Secrets and Suspicious Minds
by Jedwar
Summary: This is a crossover with Smallville characters set in an AU version of the DC Universe Earth-2 reality of golden age heroes and groups.
1. Chapter 1

**Secrets and Suspicious Minds**

by

Inspired by _Suspicious Minds and Secrets_ by Clark Luthor 322 who has graciously given me permission to use the idea of their story as the basis of this one.

_This is a crossover between Smallville and DC Elseworlds, specifically its certain Smallville characters set in an AU version of the DC Universe Earth-2 reality of golden age heroes and groups. I do not own any of the characters, nor anything connected to Smallville or the DC Universe._

**Prologue**

_I__n the endless reaches of the universe there once existed a planet known as Krypton. A planet that burned like a green star in the distant heavens. A world with a much harsher environment than our own with a gravitational force many times our own. Kryptonian civilization flourished for nearly a half million years and entered their final golden age when they discovered the means to cross the vastness of the heavens in the blink of an eye. For more than 100,000 years their civilization prospered as their race spread throughout the known 28 galaxies seeking new worlds to settle upon. They built outposts and colonies on other planets using great machines to reshape whole planetary environments to suit their needs. It was during this period that their civilization reached its zenith and the Kryptonians evolved into a race of supermen whose mental and physical powers were developed to the absolute peak of perfection allowing them to accomplish wonders. _

_It was at this pinnacle of their evolution that the Kryptonians developed the one thing that would be the subtle and sublime cause of their eventual destruction, the Genesis Chamber. With the Genesis Chamber the Kryptonians had discovered the means to insure the genetic purity and perfection of their race. After that all Kryptonians were conceived in such chambers. Every child was designed to be perfect and perform a predetermined function within their society as a worker, a warrior, a leader, and so on. Through the final perfection of their race the Kryptonians extended their lifespans, eliminated virtually all diseases, and were able to maintain their population at set level. Due to being able to artificially control their population, Kryptonians no longer saw the need to expand into space to relieve their population problems. _

_With the pressure of population under their control, Krypton abandoned its space exploration leaving its outpost and colonies on their own. The focus of the civilization now turned inward and slowly withdrew in on itself over the ensuing centuries. Science and technology still advanced, but at far slower, almost glacial, pace. The abandonment of their colonies also meant that Krypton was now completely dependent but only their home world to provide for all of their needs. Eventually this led to Krypton's leaders having to resort to harvest the planet's core when their energy resources became exhausted._

_One voice spoke against this course of action, that was Var-L, the head of Krypton's oldest and most revered houses. It was the House of L that had been responsible for many of Krypton's greatest scientific achievements including the the discovery of the Phantom drives that came to power all of their interstellar ships and the creation of the Phantom Zone to house all of Krypton's criminals. Var-L's research showed him that harvesting the core would be at best a temporary fix, and if it continue for a prolonged period of time it would mean that the planet would in time cause Krypton to tear itself apart by implosion. When his dire warnings didn't come to pass within twenty years, Var-L's concerns were discounted and dismissed. Not long after that Var-L himself disappeared on one of his expeditions into Krypton's hinterlands. Some say that he had been silenced by Krypton's supreme council, but no one could prove anything and in time people forgot anything about it._

_For nearly eighty years a precarious balance was maintain as the leaders of the planet continued to harvest more and more of the core. There is no telling how long this balance could have been maintain, but it became academic when a huge spacecraft appeared in Krypton's sky piloted by an entity calling itself Brainiac. Brainiac claimed that he was here to insure that a piece of Krypton would be preserved forever and that the planet's leaders should choose which city they would surrender to him. When they didn't make a choice, Brainiac did it for them by selecting the city of Kandor and shrinking it down to a size to fit within a large clear bottle. The disappearance of Kandor from the planet's surface caused Krypton's core to become unbalanced and sped up the rate of its demise. Over the next ten years things seemed to calm down and return to the way things had been, but each passing day actually only increased the speed at which Krypton hurled towards its own destruction._

_Again, it was the House of L that raised the alarm. This time it was Jor-L, Krypton's greatest scientist, that told of the coming calamities. Jor-L and his wife Lara had long seen the erosion of Krypton's civilization for what it truly was and what its cause had been. It was for this reason that they decided to give birth to their child in a natural way, freeing it from any predetermined destiny of fitting a specific place in society with no say in the choice. Lara gave birth to the first natural born child on Krypton in more than a millennium, a son that they named Kal, just days before an attempted coup by General Dru Zod, Krypton's supreme military commander, against the leadership of the Council. The coup was put down with Jor-L's help, but during it Jor-L and Lara had launched Kal into the stars on the chance that they might never be able to if Zod's revolt did succeed. General Zod was killed by Jor-L during the fighting and his followers were condemned to the Phantom Zone. Barely a month later Krypton tore itself apart in a cataclysmic explosion. As it did, one other ship slipped into space following where the other had already gone._

_By then Kal-L's ship had completed it journey through star-studded space landing safely on Earth with its precious burden in a field belonging to Jonathan and Martha Kent of Smallville, Kansas. In early 1916, the childless Kents adopted the infant they had found and as the years went by and the child grew to maturity he found himself possessed of amazing physical and mental powers far beyond any normal human. Faster than a speeding bullet... more powerful than a locomotive... able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... the infant of Krypton became the Man of Steel, Superman._

_As Superman and Clark Kent, the Last Son of Krypton did his part in fighting during the Second World War as both a superhero and a fighting man. With the end of the war, there were forces within the government at home that now looked for a new 'enemy' and they set their sights on the very heroes that had helped secure victory. The Heroes Registration Act was supposedly meant to have those who had fought to protect to America to reveal their true identities so the public could show its appreciation. Many of the heroes questioned the true intent of the law and refused to comply. That meant the disbanding of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron. Superman, like many of this fellow heroes, has assumed a civilian disguise. Though Superman still appears when truly needed, he now spends most of his time as Clark Kent, Private Detective, in the great city of Metropolis to be in a position to use his amazing powers in his never ending battle for truth, justice, and protecting the innocent._

_**Author's Note:** _I want to again thank Clark Luthor 322 for their story which gave me the inspiration to try this, my first fanfiction story I have ever posted here. Reviews are welcome, but not necessary.


	2. Chapter 2

**Secrets and Suspicious Minds**

by

Inspired by _Suspicious Minds and Secrets_ by Clark Luthor 322 who has graciously given me permission to use the idea of their story as the basis of this one.

_This is a crossover between Smallville and DC Elseworlds, specifically its certain Smallville characters set in an AU version of the DC Universe Earth-2 reality of golden age heroes and groups. I do not own any of the characters, nor anything connected to Smallville or the DC Universe._

**Chapter 1**

**November 24, 1947**

**Metropolis, DE**

The light/dark blue, two-toned 1947 Talbot-Lago T26 Cabriolet, that had its top down, pulled gracefully into the first open parking spaces along the 400 block of Clinton Street. The driver's right side door opened and a pair of well-proportioned feet in black patent leather high-heeled pumps emerged as the vehicle's occupant stepped out onto the sidewalk. When the car door swung shut it revealed a pair of gorgeous legs encased in black silk stockings. The stockings disappeared under a tight, black wool skirt that belonged to a skirt/suit ensemble that was itself hidden under the silver fox fur jacket its owner was wearing against the brisk autumn air. A pair of dark sunglasses covered her eyes against the bright late morning sun; a condition that wasn't going to last with an early winter storm that was due to blow late that evening. It was easy to discern the color of the woman's rich auburn-colored hair since she had quickly run a hair brush through it a couple of times before she had exited the car to repair some of the wind damage that had been done from her drive into town. Allowing her hair to blow in the wind was the way she liked it. Oh, she could dress and make herself up along with the best of them when she had to, but she really preferred doing things a bit more naturally and simpler.

Turning from the car, the woman placed her free hand into the protective warmth of the pockets of her jacket as the young woman began striding purposefully towards the entrance of the Savoy Court Apartment building at 400 Clinton Street where it intersects with McFadden Avenue. After passing the entrance the private underground parking for the building's tenants, came the entrance of a convenience shop selling the usual wares including the Daily Planet whose banner headline was part of the reason she was here. The woman paid only passing interest to the facade of the building that was literally encrusted with terracotta ornaments of flowers, urns, salamanders breathing fire and much more done in the style of François I and was one the reasons her uncle had bought the building more than fifteen years ago. Just past the shop was an awning covering the distance from the entrance to the building out to the curb. On reaching the awning the woman turned to the right and had the door of the apartment building quickly opened for her by the doorman stationed just outside of it. After going up three steps the woman entered the lobby of the building.

As she entered lobby the woman removed her sunglasses and slipped them into one of the pockets of her jacket as she surveyed her surroundings through her blue-green eyes. Directly in front of her was the large open courtyard than ran all the way up through the center of the building and was covered at the top by a steel and glass roof that allowed sunlight to illuminate the interior of the building. To her left she could see the lobby entrance into the rear of the Savoy Grill which was one of the better eating establishments in Metropolis and had been located in this building ever since it had opened in 1909. The main entrance of the restaurant was at the corner of the building that sat at the intersection of Clinton St. and McFadden Ave. The Savoy Grill served some of the best steaks and seafood in town and was currently closed while they prepared for the usual lunch crowd. Across the courtyard and down a short hallway the woman could just the lobby entrance to the bar that was next to and attached to the Savoy Grill; the name "Ace of Clubs" was painted on the door. To the woman's right over in one corner was the building's stairwell and its elevators that serviced the apartments on the upper floors of the building. Near the elevators was desk manned by young woman with brown hair and brown eyes dressed in nice dress and wearing a name tag that announced to the public that her name was "Bianka" who was talking on the phone and quickly writing something down.

The woman approached the desk and waited patiently until the girl was done with the call. The girl looked up at her and politely asked in a rather cultured voice that had the barest hint of an Hungarian accent, "How can I help you, madam?"

"I'm looking for Clark Kent Investigations," the woman replied.

"Yes, madam, that would be the door right over there" the girl said as she pointed at rather nondescript over in far corner the woman's right.

After thanking the girl, the woman began to walk towards it. As she did she pondered its location and decided that it must backed up against and parallel the shop front she past coming into the building. On reaching the door the woman saw that only identifier it had on was the #102. From the other side of the door came the rapid pounding of a typewriter being used by a skilled practitioner, which only became louder as the woman turned the door knob and stepped into the office beyond.

The outer office was lined with dark oak paneling and tastefully decorated with a leather sofa that sat just to the right of the doorway that sat of the edge of an expensive Persian carpet the woman realized. A variety of very good quality original paintings hung on the wall that included a variety of different landscapes from around the world. It was apparent that of them had been done by the same artist since each of them was signed simply with the initials "M.K." In fact there was something familiar about the style of painting the woman had quickly taken in; somewhere she had seen it before. File cabinets lined the right-hand wall of the outer office under three of the paintings the woman had been looking at. Along the left hand wall that the door opened up against were three sets of stackable lawyer bookcases with five units each that were filled with a truly eclectic variety of books; one of which she easily recognized since she was the one who had written it.

Sitting behind a mahogany desk was a young blonde woman, wearing a light blue dress of obvious quality, who was in her early to mid-twenties and could easily be described as attractive. On the front edge of the desk sat a nameplate announcing the young woman behind the desk was "Alicia Baker". Alicia's fingers were flashing with unerring accuracy across the keys of the newest model of electric typewriter offered by International Machine Products (IMP) as she listened to the Dictaphone that sat next to her desk and was transcribing whatever it was that was on the recording. After a moment or so, Alicia having come to a stopping point, reached over and switched off the Dictaphone before turning towards the woman with a bright smile that lit up her brown eyes and said, "Good morning, how can I help you?"

"I was hoping to speak with Mr. Kent on a rather urgent matter," the woman replied as she suddenly realized that she was hearing the sound of more typing coming from the inner office, which if anything by the she sound the other typist was progressing at an even greater rate than what the proficient Miss Baker had already demonstrated.

"He's just finishing up some details of his latest case and doesn't have any other appointments for today. So I don't think that will be a problem," Alicia said as moved to press the send button on her intercom. "Who should I say is here to see him?"

"Lutessa Mercier," the woman stated.

With some difficulty Alicia was able to keep her surprise from showing on her face. Lex Luthor's cousin was here to see Clark. She wondered if it had to do with the case that her boss had just finished for Lex a few days ago, or was it possible it had something to do with Lex's untimely death in a plane crash yesterday afternoon in Starling City that was splashed all over the front page of every newspaper in the city, especially the Daily Planet.

As Alicia pushed the button and released it, the sound of typing from the inner office ceased and rich, vibrant voice asked over the intercom, "Yes Alicia, what is it?"

"Miss Lutessa Mercier is here to see you," Alicia answered.

"Please show Miss Mercier in, Alicia," Clark said with a reflective tone as he leaned back in his chair as he quickly recalled the first time he had ever met Lutessa Mercier. It was a day nearly nineteen years ago that had a major impact on his life and those of his friends.

_**Flashback...**_

**December 27, 1928**

**Elbow River near Smallville, Kansas**

Clark Kent quickly came to a sliding stop on his homemade snowmobile near the Loeb Street Bridge as Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan were waiting for him with huge grins on their faces. They were grinning at the fact that they had so easily beaten their friend in their five mile race over the iced-over river. Clark couldn't figure that out since he and Pete had built their three machines in the same way from the same type of parts they had scrounged from wrecked motorcycles at the Ross Salvage Yard. The only thought that came to him was the fact that he was not a normal thirteen year old somehow made him heavier which would account for the reduced amount of speed he was getting from his machine.

Clark had found the plans for the converting a motorcycle into a machine the author of the article called a "snowmobile" in an old magazine that he had found lying about the hangers that housed the Kent family's crop dusting business earlier in the fall. With Pete's help they had gathered together the parts his family's salvage yard and had built the first one in the following four weeks. When it was ready they were happy and surprised that it worked the first time they tried it out in the field behind the Kent family barn. Once they knew it worked, Pete and Clark got to work on one for Pete, which took them only three weeks to put together this and that was only because it took them a bit longer to find the necessary parts. Needless to say, since Chloe was their friend they had one put together for her in time for their school's holiday break. That was the reason they were racing up and down the iced-over Elbow river two days after Christmas.

"What's the matter, Clark," Chloe teased with her infectious smile, "can't get anymore speed out of that heap your riding?"

"No," Clark playfully shot back, "I just didn't want to discourage you by beating you too easily."

"What!" Chloe cried in surprise. "Are you saying that you have been holding back for the last two hours and letting me and Pete win every race we have had?"

"Now," Clark replied in a voice thick with sarcasm so it wouldn't be lost on his two friends, "I never said that. You're trying to put words in my mouth again, Chloe."

"Well, at least you have someone who cares enough to give you words and coherent sentences to fill that vacuum between your ears," Chloe said with smirk as she quickly fired back.

Pete didn't even try to keep the smirk off his own face. Being treated to the verbal sparring between his two friends was some of the best entertainment he got, and he didn't even have to go to Talon movie theater or needed a radio to enjoy it. That was the reason that he couldn't help but chuckle at her reply.

Pete knew that Chloe had a major crush on Clark, and he was even aware that Clark also had some feelings for their female counterpart that were stronger than just friendship. He just wished one of them one do something about getting the whole situation out in the open.

Any further thoughts about his friends' feelings for each other were interrupted by a loud popping noise coming from the bridge above them. Instantly after the first sound, the screeching of tires and brakes preceded the cacophony of noise that came with a large black limousine crashing through the railing of the Loeb Bridge. The three friends watched on in stunned silence as they saw the vehicle hit the river and easily punched through the ice before disappearing from sight.

For Chloe and Pete the whole scene before them had been played out in space of a couple of heartbeats. It was a different story for Clark. As he looked up after hearing the pop and saw the car come into sight, time seemed to slow down for him. In what might be described as horrid fascination, he watched as the vehicle careened off the bridge and slowly fell towards the river. Things were moving so slow that Clark actually had the time to see the occupants of the limousine, which included the driver, a man and a little girl with auburn hair and wide blue-green eyes that were looking at him with fear easily visible within them. He even recognized the vehicle as a 1928 Bugatti Royale. There was only one person in Smallville that owned a car like that, and that was Henri Mercier, the owner and general manager of the local chemical/fertilizer plant where Chloe's father, Gabe, was assistant general manager and Mr. Mercier's right-hand man. That meant the little girl was Mr. Mercier's seven-year old daughter, Lutessa.

Clark's parents had drummed into him not to let anyone see him use his abilities, but innocent lives were in danger. So, with only a passing thought to fact that his friends were about to see him do something that normally would be impossible, Clark was already moving towards the hole in the ice that had swallowed the car barely a moment before it had disappeared from sight.

"Clark! Wait! That ice is going to be dangerous!" was all Chloe was able to yell out to her friend before he reached the hole and dove straight in without wasting a second.

"My God! He's insane," Chloe gasped.

"That's Clark," Pete responded sadly at the thought his friend had probably just killed himself while trying to help someone he didn't even know. "Always the hero."

In numb fascination, the two young people began to move slowly towards where they had seen their friend disappear beneath the ice. Upon reaching the point that both of them still felt safe to stand on they stared helplessly at the floating chunks of ice that marked the point where Clark and the car had entered the water.

Ten seconds past, then twenty. As it was approaching nearly thirty seconds since Clark had vanished into the water, Chloe and Pete suddenly heard the sound of breaking ice behind them and closer to the riverbank. Spinning about the two of them were startled to see first the nose of the limousine emerging from beneath the ice quickly followed by the rest of the vehicle being carried from the rear end by Clark as he shot out of the ice and water like a whale breaching the surface.

Chloe and Pete stood there in open-mouthed astonishment as they watch Clark continue to rise from the water as his trajectory took him towards the bank of the river. It was only after Clark had gently landed and carefully put the car down that they came out of their wonder induced stupor and began to run towards where their friend had landed and was already busy pulling the people from the vehicle. They had almost reached him when Clark, having removed its three occupants, suddenly picked up the limousine and effortlessly heaved it back out into the river to approximately the same spot it had originally entered the water.

"Why did you do that?" a dumbfounded Pete asked.

"Because silly," the usually quick witted Chloe explained as she was the first to recover from what she had just witnessed, "people will believe that he pulled these folks out the river, but not a whole car."

"She's right, Pete," Clark said confirming what Chloe had said. "Now, we need do what we can to revive them."

Pete immediately fell back on his boy scout training and began moving the arms of the first body he came to which was that of the chauffeur as he began chanting, "Out with the bad air, In with the good air".

Chloe simply shook her head at Pete's actions that she recognized as coming from his training as a boy scout. Seeing Chloe's reaction just he as was getting ready to follow Pete's example on Mr. Mercier, Clark asked, "Do you know a better way Chloe?"

"Yes, in a book a read about a year ago, I came across a method used by doctors and midwifes on babies who have stopped breathing," Chloe said as she bend over the little girl. First she wiped the mouth and then checked to see that there was nothing blocking her air passage. Chloe leaned the girl's head back to create an obstructed path to her lungs before pinching her nose close and breathing into her mouth. The boys watched as the girls lungs filled with air and her chest expanded. Within half a dozen breathes the girl began breathing on her own and spitting up the water in her system.

Convinced that Chloe's method worked, Pete and Clark turned to the two men and began following Chloe's example. In less than minute both men were breathing on their own and slowly beginning to recover. But Clark realized that if they didn't do something to get these three people help, as well as warmed up and dry soon, they would probably die from exposure to the cold air and being in wet clothes.

"Pete, you go for help," Clark ordered his friend. "The closest place with a phone would be the mill about a mile down the road. Call the sheriff and the hospital. Let them know what happened out here and that they need to get some people over here as soon as possible. Chloe you stay here and look after them while I go get some wood to start a fire."

So, as Pete hopped on his snowmobile and sped off to the mill, Clark began to gather wood for a fire moving at speeds no normal human could hope to obtain. Since the three victims had their backs to him they didn't see how Clark was able to so quickly gather more than enough wood, but Chloe did. That was just another question that the intrepid young reporter was going to have for her friend who was busy making a fire by using what appeared to be his boy scout training. Of course, Chloe knew that Clark had never been in the scouts and chalked the fact that he had a fire going in less than a minute to another ability that he had; one more than thing to add to her list of questions about her friend.

As Clark busied himself with building up his fire, Chloe decided to do what she could to keep everyone's attention off her friend by talking to Mr. Mercier and company.

"Are you alright, Mr. Mercier," Chloe asked.

"I'm fine, Chloe," Henri replied easily remembering the daughter of his assistant general manager, Gabriel Sullivan, before turning his attention to his daughter. "I'm just worried about Lutessa."

"She'll be fine since Clark is getting that fire really going," Chloe said as she began to take off her coat revealing the fact she had another one on underneath it and placing it over the slightly shivering form of Lutessa Mercier. "What happened to cause you to go off the bridge?"

"I'm not exactly sure. We were crossing the bridge on our way back home from the train station from having dropped off my brother-in-law and his son for their trip back to Metropolis when there was a loud pop that shook the car. After that the car went out of control, crashed through the guardrail on the bridge and into the river. If you want to know what caused the accident," Henri said as turned and looked at his chauffeur, "you would have to ask Jean-Pierre."

On hearing his name, Jean-Pierre stated in slightly with a French accent, "We hit something I didn't see on the bridge that punctured one of the front tires which caused me some difficulty in steering the car. Then all of a sudden the car began sliding and swerving in a manner I could not control, the next thing I knew we were crashing off the bridge and into the water. It must have been some ice on the bridge that caused me to lose control of the car. I am sorry, sir," Jean-Pierre said apologizing to his employer.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Jean-Pierre," Henri said gently. "It was simply an accident that no one could have anticipated. "What I don't understand is how we ended up being rescued at all, let alone so quickly?"

"My friends and I were just below the bridge when your car crashed through the guardrail. My friend Clark is the one that dove in after you and pulled you from the river," Chloe said being truthful, but not completely truthful. She saw no reason to go into details about something she didn't fully understand herself, at least for the moment.

"Clark?" Henri asked questioningly.

"Him, daddy," Lutessa said in a small voice as she pointed at their rescuer who was attending to the fire they had now gathered round. "I saw him running towards us as we went under. I even saw him swimming towards us under the water and that was the last thing I remember before waking up here."

"Clark, would you come here for a moment," Chloe called out feeling that it was a more than appropriate time for introductions.

Hearing Chloe call his name, Clark turned away from the fire that was large enough now that it was already beginning to dry out the clothes of Mr. Mercier, his daughter and the chauffeur. In fact, it was so warm that the rocks he had placed about the blaze seemed to almost be glowing and adding to the heat. As he stepped over to stand beside his friend, Chloe began, "Mr. Mercier, this is my friend Clark Kent. Clark, this is Henri Mercier, his daughter Lutessa and their chauffeur, Jean-Pierre. Clark's father was just re-elected as our mayor."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Clark said to the three figures gathered around the fire as he shook the hands that were extended towards him.

"It is most assuredly my pleasure as well, Mr. Kent," Henri replied as he firmly shook the boy's hand. "And I am eternally grateful for what you have done today. I've met your father on several occasions as well as your mother. They are both very good people. I think they represent every that is best about your country."

"I appreciate that, sir," Clark stated in a quiet voice a little embarrassed by the man's praise for himself, but not his parents. He believes like Mr. Mercier that his parents, as well as the whole Kent clan, are the best people on this planet. "But I didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done under the same circumstances. Besides, it was Chloe who knew how to revive you. She is the one you should really be thanking."

"_Thanks a lot, Clark,"_ Chloe grumbled in her thoughts. A reporter was supposed to report the story, not be part of the story.

"What is he talking about, Miss Sullivan," Henri inquired.

When Chloe hesitated for a moment before answering feeling like she would tooting her own horn, Clark began to explain, "Pete and I were about to try and get air into your lungs the way Pete was trained in the boy scouts, but Chloe knew a different way."

It was at that point that Chloe found her voice and took over the explanation of what she had shown them and how well it worked. By the time she and Clark had provided the details of what had happened they heard the wail of the first siren approaching.

The sound of the doorknob being turned snapped Clark's attention back to the present. In a quick burst of superspeed, Clark quickly closed the files he had been working on and filed them away in his desk drawer. As he dropped out of superspeed the door to his office was just beginning to open. Clark wondered to himself if Lutessa still had the same lovely blue-green eyes as she did as a child, or had the world and time changed them. He could have no idea how much his life was going to change when he got his answer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

_The sound of the doorknob being turned snapped Clark's attention back to the present. In a quick burst of superspeed, Clark quickly closed the files he had been working on and filed them away in his desk drawer. As he dropped out of superspeed the door to his office was just beginning to open. Clark wondered to himself if Lutessa still had the same lovely blue-green eyes as she did as a child, or had the world and time changed them. He could have no idea how much his life was going to change when he got his answer._

As Clark looked up he noticed Alicia standing in the doorway as she ushered Miss Mercier into his office. A moment later, Lutessa Mercier stepped through the door and came into view as Alicia announced, "Clark, this is Miss Mercier."

As Miss Mercier came into the room Clark's enhanced senses picked-up a vibe and a scent from her that he instantly recognized and surprised him, which didn't happen often these days. The next that thing struck Clark's attention was how tall Lutessa was even in her heels; she stood at least two to three inches taller than Alicia which meant she had to be about five-feet nine-inches tall. The quality of her clothes and the fur coat that she was wearing were in keeping of what Clark would expect of a member of the Luthor family, as well as the daughter and only child of a prominent Swiss financier and industrialist. As Lutessa thanked Alicia she had a small smile on her lips which helped give her features the angelic look that Clark remembered from years ago. Yet, as she turned towards him as he stood up to greet her, Clark watched as the smile faded away slightly and a more serious, mature expression took its place. That told him that Lutessa had truly grown up. That estimation was confirmed when he finally got a good look at her eyes. They were still the same blue-green that he recalled, but there were lines of various life experiences at the corners of them. While Clark could still see that there was still something of the little girl in her, there was no denying that the little girl was now a fully grown mature and attractive woman.

However, it was when they made direct eye-to-eye contact that the whole axis of Clark's world shifted. As the old saying goes that the eyes are windows into one's soul, and as Clark looked into Lutessa's he saw not only her soul, but his future as well. For good or bad he knew that he and Lutessa were forever bonded to each other and there was nothing he could do about it.

Within the last few months Clark had finally learned the truth about his Kryptonian origin and heritage. A part of that heritage was the marriage and mating customs of the Kryptonian race. By custom, Kryptonians usually do not marry until they are several years into adulthood, or by Earth standards – sometime in their 30s. More importantly was the fact that adult Kryptonians chose their mates on an instinctive level, which meant that when there was a mental and physical connection the two were bound to each other for life. In clichéd Earth terminology, it was love at first sight.

Now, in his nearly thirty-two years of living on Earth, Clark had been in a number of relationships, both emotional and physical. Chloe Sullivan had been his first crush when they had been in middle school together. In fact Chloe had given Clark his first kiss when they were eight soon after she had arrived in Smallville. They had even tried dating during the start of their freshman year of high school, but that had come to end when they kissed again for the second time during the Christmas dance that year and discovered that there was no depth to their feelings like there should have been. As Chloe had put it, 'It was like kissing her brother.'

And there had been his m she most serious relationship to date with Lori Lemaris during his senior year at Met U. He truly thought that she was the love of his life and had wanted to marry her. That love affair had taught him a great deal about the depth of human emotions. Yet, with just one look into Lutessa Mercier's eyes, he now realized that there had been something missing which explained why he was not more heartbroken when she turned down his marriage proposal shortly before both of them had graduated from Metropolis University.

The one thing that surprised Clark was the fact that this had happened with someone from Earth. He had believed that it could only happen with someone of his own race, and since he was the only survivor of Krypton he had thought he was destined to spend the rest of his life alone. Now it seemed that fate had decreed otherwise as he stood there gazing into those eyes allowing himself to be momentarily lost in their depths.

For her part Lutessa was just as momentarily stunned as Clark was. When she had turned her attention from Miss Baker, who had shown her in, to the occupant of inner office she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the man who was gazing at her in equal fascination. The first thing that surprised Lutessa was his height and the muscular build that could not be hidden by his clothes. Then, as her eyes traveled up to his face, she was struck by how unbelievably gorgeous the man's seemingly perfect features were.

But it was when her eyes directly made contact with his that she knew that she was in trouble. They were this indescribable color of cerulean blue that she had only seen while out on the ocean in a few places in the world that she had ever been to. It was a shade of blue she had loved all of her life. They were also a pair of eyes that she instantly knew she could easily allow herself to fall into and never want to come up again because of the warm and secure feeling it gave her; a feeling she had not felt since she had lost her mother during the war.

The intensity of the gaze she was receiving from the man made her feel a little self-conscious about herself for the first time in years. As she began to feel herself blush slightly, Lutessa was also very aware of the sudden sparking of a warm, delicious feeling feeling flickering to life within her, which only reminded her just how long it had been since she had been involved in any kind of relationship.

And yet there was something else about those eyes that seemed to be trying to stir some kind of memories within her, but she just couldn't grab ahold of it. But any further speculation, or feelings of minor embarrassment were interrupted when the man stepped around from behind his desk as he extended his hand in greeting, and said, "Good morning, Miss Mercier. I'm Clark Kent and I can't begin to tell how sorry I am to be meeting you like this. Be assured you have my sympathy and condolences on the lose of your cousin. Lex and I have been friends since we went to Met U. and roomed together. I really have no words to describe how I am going to miss him."

"Thank you," Lutessa said as she took his hand. At the touch of it a feeling akin to a small shock of electricity shot through her body startling her. Quickly recovering from whatever it was that had just happened as Clark released her hand, Lutessa continued, "In fact Lex is the reason I'm here. He told that if I ever had a problem I needed help with then I should come to you."

"Of course, I'll do anything I can to help," Clark stated as he showed her to one of the leather bound chairs sitting in front of his desk. As she started to sit and he proceeded to sit on the corner of his desk, Clark asked, "Now exactly what sort of problem is it that a fellow Smallvillian can help you with?"

At the mention of a Smallville, Lutessa looked up at Clark with a look of astonishment on her face. "How did you know I was born in Smallville?"

"Miss Mercier, Smallville is a small town after all, which makes it pretty hard not to know everyone. Add to that the fact that your father owned and ran the chemical/fertilizer plant there, it would be next to impossible for me not to remember his daughter," Clark explained.

Suddenly Lutessa had a flash of a memory recalling those same colored eyes swimming towards her underwater. Realizing the truth of it she exclaimed, "That was you at the bridge that saved me and my father."

"Yes, it was. Just goes to prove that the world can be a small place," Clark replied in a lighthearted manner, hoping to downplay the events of that day. "How are your father and Jean-Pierre doing these days?"

"I talked to my father a couple of days ago and he is doing very well," Lutessa said. "And Jean-Pierre is still driving for my father and taking care of his small fleet of automobiles. How are your friends Chloe and Pete doing," Lutessa asked remembering the other two who had been there that day.

"Chloe is doing what she always dreamed of doing, she is the Daily Planet's top investigate reporter and writes under the name of Lois Lane," Clark answered.

"I've read some of her work over the years," Lutessa said recognizing the name. "She is very good."

"Yes, she is," Clark agreed.

"I especially liked her interview with Marshall Kendric, the author, which surprised me since he has been so reclusive for his entire career," Tess stated. "He is one of my favorite authors."

"Many people agree that interview was one of her better pieces, and it still mystifies them exactly how she was able to get him to talk to her," Clark replied with a slightly amused tone in his voice that Tess noted.

"What about Pete?"

"We lost Pete during the war," Clark said with a bit more feeling than Lutessa thought she would hear. And from the look in Clark's eyes it appeared that he somehow carried some sort of guilt about it. "He flew fighters in Europe before he was shot down and was killed while trying to escape from a prison-of-war camp."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kent," Lutessa said.

"Not necessary, but thank you," Clark replied. Then with a shrug of his shoulders, he put that memory back in storage before asking, "Why don't you call me Clark and tell me what is this problem that you need my help with?"

"Alright, Clark" Lutessa said with a small smile as she emphasized his name as she said it. "In return I want you to call me Tess."

"Fair enough, Tess," Clark said with a smile in return that made her stomach start doing little flips. "Now to business, what is this problem we can't seem to get to talking about?"

"As clichéd as this may sound, I'm afraid that my life is in danger," Tess stated.

"Just who do think is a threat to your life?" Clark asked.

"Lex's wife " Tess spat out with some venom.

"Lana?" a dumbfounded Clark asked. "Two days ago she was in Reno. Lex's people made sure that she arrived."

"Well, she showed up at the mansion about two hours ago," a very irritated Tess replied, "and ordered me to pack my things and to get out."

"She had no right to do that," Clark said with anger beginning to creep into his voice knowing better than just about anyone that Lana no longer had a legal right to anything that belonged to Lex.

"Well she had the men with her to ensure that her orders were carried out," Tess provided.

"You had better tell me everything that happened," Clark said as he stood up from the desk and sat down in the other chair next to Tess.

"Alright, I had just coming down for breakfast before going to a meeting I had scheduled for this morning to go over the next unveiling of Luthor Enterprise's newest business venture tomorrow, when the front door of the mansion was thrown open and two very large and intimidating men stepped into the foyer," Tess explained. "Right behind them was Lana with four others behind her. She announced, without any hesitation, that since Lex was now gone she was in charge of everything that he owned, which included the mansion. She then gleefully told me that I had an hour to pack my things and get out. If I didn't, her 'assistants' would make sure that I was gone by then. So I began packing under the watchful glare of one of the men that had come with her. By the time I had everything packed and loaded in my car, Lana had already fired nearly two-thirds of the mansion's staff; the ones that had never cared for her and said things about her behind her back for the three years she has been married to Lex."

"Can you describe any of the men who were with her," Clark inquired already anticipating part of her answer.

"There were two who stood out," Tess began. "The first was tall, had dark hair and was dressed in well-tailored clothes. He had a thin scar down the left side of his face and wore an eye patch over his left eye, which was brown in color. He was also one of the meanest looking men I have ever seen."

"Was the other man in his mid-thirties, on the lower end of being tall, well-featured with dark hair, had blue eyes, a thin mustache, and was dressed even better than the first man that you described?"

"Yes," Tess replied quickly realizing that Clark knew who these two were and that was clearly evident from the look she gave him.

"The second man is Vincent Edge," Clark provided. "He is the head of Intergang, Metropolis' crime syndicate, and something we have never been able to prove in court. The first man is Travis Slade. He is in charge of Edge's personal security and handles getting rid of anyone Edge tells him to make disappear. And considering Lana's influence on Intergang through Vincent Edge I have to agree with your concern for your life. With Lex gone, you are now the only surviving heir to the Luthor fortune, which is something that I think Lana will not stand for. So, I think it would be best if we take some steps to keep anything from happening to you. Now, you said something about there being an unveiling tomorrow, I take it you meant the Metro-Star Express?"

"Yes. Tomorrow morning I was supposed to be on board for the inaugural run from Metropolis to Starling City," Tess confirmed. "It and Lex's flight were supposed to be part of our publicity campaign to launch the new transportation branch of Luthor Enterprises, which was to be part of the creation of LexCorp."

"You're determined to be on that train tomorrow," Clark observed from the tone of Tess' voice.

"I have to be Clark," Tess replied. "If I really am the last of the Luthors then I feel obligated to Lex to see this through; to see to the fulfillment of his plans."

"I understand, Tess," Clark told her. "But, you are probably right to be concerned for your safetly. So, I hope you don't mind if I accompany you to Starling City tomorrow."

"Not at all," Tess answered. "I'll be happy for the company. But I don't understand what Lana has to do with this Intergang," Tess said perplexed by what Clark had said about that subject. "I just don't see the connection."

"Oh, there is a very strong connection between Lana and Edge's control of Intergang," Clark told her. "You see, they happen to be husband and wife."

"What?!" Tess screamed, unable to help herself when she heard that bombshell dropped on her.

"They were married in 1939 in a little hole-in-the-wall town in Nevada and never got a divorce," Clark said with a small smile at her reaction. "That was part of what Lex had me working on for him for the last month or so."

"That sounds like it is going to be a bit of an explanation," Tess said just as her stomach grumbled at her, causing her blush briefly in embarrassment.

"It seems that I am not taking as good a care of my client as I should be," Clark said teasingly. "Tess, might I interest you in an early lunch while fill you in on some the more interesting facts about your cousin's wife?"

"I would be delighted," Tess said as began to rise from her chair. "That little witch kept me from eating breakfast this morning."

"Somehow," Clark said with mischievous look in his eye as he too stood up and began directing her towards the door after pulling on the jacket of his suit, "I get the feeling that you wanted to use a similar sounding, but stronger word than that."

"And you would be correct," Tess replied with an acknowledging smile as she followed him to the door and waited for him to open it for her. Clark did not disappoint as he opened the door and then followed behind Tess after she had proceeded him.

As they stepped into the outer office and he closed the door, Clark said, "If you will excuse me for just a moment, I have to make a phone call. I need to invite a few more people to join us."

"Of course," Tess commented as Clark stepped over to Alicia's desk and picked up the receiver of the telephone and began dialing a number from memory. She was interested in just who he might be calling to invite to lunch.

A few moments later Clark began talking into the phone, and at the first words Alicia's left eyebrow rose in obvious interest which only intrigued Tess a bit more.

"Hello, Hank... I'm doing okay... Listen, you remember that situation that Lex asked you not to do anything about... Yeah, well it seems that Lana isn't living up to her part of the agreement... I know because I just learned from my newest client a few minutes ago that she is back in Metropolis, and acting like the high and mighty princess of Luthor Manor she has always wanted to be. So, since she broke her end of the deal I feel that frees us up to do what we wanted to do in the first place... Right... I was just about to take my client to get something to eat over here at the Grill. Why don't you and your crew come on down and I'll treat you to lunch while we hash out what we do from here. You might also extend that invitation to your boss as well... Okay, I'll see you in twenty minutes. I'll let Felix know to show you to our usual spot... By the way, why don't you call and ask your wife and brother to come along as well. I'm sure Alicia wouldn't mind getting to spend lunch with her boyfriend while we talk shop... Alright, I'll see you in a little while... Bye," Clark said into the phone before replacing the receiver back in its cradle before turning towards Tess and the look of natural curiosity on her face.

"That was my friend, Henry Olsen. He is one Metropolis' assistant District Attorneys," Clark told her answering her unasked question. "He was very interested in Lana's situation and wanted to prosecute her on bigamy charges, but Lex decided to give her a chance to bow out gracefully and save himself a major headache of a scandal to go along with a divorce. So he worked out a deal with Lana to go to Reno, Nevada to file for a divorce."

Seeing the confusion on Tess' face, Clark explained, "The state of Nevada has lowered its requirement for someone to establish residency in the state to only six weeks. After that is accomplished a person can file an uncontested divorce and have it quickly granted. The city of Reno has become a very popular place for 'quickie' divorces. Lex had arranged everything for Lana to do just that, and once it was accomplished he was going to give her a very generous settlement to simply go away and disappear. And now that I think about it, her return is a just a little too well timed for it to be simple coincidence."

"I take it then that you think Lana might have had something to do with Lex's death," Tess asked knowing that she had been harboring the same thought herself from the moment Lana shown up at the mansion this morning with the attitude she had been exhibiting.

"I feel that it is a strong possibility," Clark replied. "I know the design of the plane Lex was flying very well. The fact that a wing ripped off while the plane was making an easy turn to line up for landing is just too suspicious to me. But, once Oliver gets the wreckage brought to the surface, then we'll be able to get some answers."

"Now my curiosity is really piqued, Clark," Tess stated. "Obviously you're talking about Oliver Queen, but that begs the question of how you know him and just how do you know about the design of the aircraft Lex was flying."

"That is fairly simple," Clark answered with a small smile. "And I'll tell you about that in a moment, but first, do you have a place to stay?"

"No, I was planning on checking into a hotel after we were done here."

"How about staying here," Clark offered. "Lex owns the penthouse of this building, and if you stay there it will make it easier for me to keep on eye on you until we get on that train tomorrow morning."

"I thought the whole upper floor was owned by some reclusive-type," Tess replied.

"Yeah, Marshall Kendric," Clark provided.

"Marshall Kendric

"Technically, it belongs to Marshall Kendric," Clark told her. "But that is just a subterfuge that Lex and Lionel cooked up with the writer when he signed an exclusive publishing contract with the Luthor Publishing more than twelve years ago. They did it to help keep their little hideaway secret."

"Hideaway?" Tess inquired.

"A few years after Lex's mother died, Lionel began keeping a variety of female companions. None of them last more than a year or so, but they were always put up in the penthouse here practically from the moment the place was taken over by Lionel," Clark began to explain. "When Lex began to attend Met U, Lionel had the penthouse partitioned for him to use as a place to stay while he was attending classes."

"That was when you and Lex began rooming together," Tess said recalling what Clark had said earlier.

"Yes, it was, and the first year I was there we had another roommate, Oliver Queen," Clark stated and let that little bit of information sink in before continuing. "In fact it was Oliver's graduation party in the penthouse that drew just a little too much of attention to the actual ownership of the place which brought about the current arrangement."

"That must have been some party," Tess said with a smirk knowing a little bit about Oliver Queen and quite a bit about her cousin.

"It was something alright," Clark said with a fond smile at the memory.

"But how did Kendric get involved?" Tess wanted to know.

"He was at the party and was the only one sober when the police showed up for the second time responding about complaints about the noise," Clark provided. "He took all the heat for the whole thing and kept the police occupied. That gave Oliver and Lex time enough to get out of the building using the private elevator in Lionel's part of the penthouse. In gratitude for keeping his son's name not being associated with any scandal, Lionel agreed to publish Kendric's first novel with the proviso that the Luthors were allowed to put his name on the documents showing the ownership of the penthouse. Lionel did that just in case any nosy reporters started digging into the whole thing trying to find any connection back to Lex and Oliver who had been reported to have been at the party that night."

"As usual, that was smart and highly profitable for uncle Lionel since in the last twelve years everyone of Kendric's novels has been a bestseller, and more than half of them have been turned into movies. Especially 'Through the Eye of War' which won him the Pulitzer last year," Tess stated.

"Yeah, I was with Lex the night that he accepted the award for Kendric," Clark said.

"So you know Marshall Kendric," Tess surmised.

"In a manner of speaking," Clark acknowledged.

During all of this Alicia was listening in rapt attention since she was finding something new about her boss that she had never heard before. Now she had already known the truth to just who Marshall Kendric really was, but she was hearing some very interesting history for the first time and she was loving it.

"Do you think you might be able to introduce me to him sometime," Tess hopefully. "Like I said earlier he is one of my favorite authors."

"And he truly appreciated that sentiment," Clark stated with a slightly amused smile on his face which caused Tess' brow crunch up in confusion. Clark's smile only got bigger as he saw the light dawning in Tess' eyes as she quickly began to put the pieces together.

"You're Marshall Kendric," a surprised Tess exclaimed.

"Guilty as charged," Clark agreed enjoying the moment.

"If you're so successful as a writer, why are you working as a private detective?"

"My writing helps pay the bills, but really I like to be able to help people who need it. My being a detective allows me make some difference in this world," Clark told her with a warmth and caring in his voice that unmistakable. "It may not be anything that makes a major change in the world, but at least I can make somehting of a difference in the lives of those I help."

After a brief moment, a gentle smile touched his lips as he said, "Now, shall see about getting you settled in?"

Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed my work. I am working on the next chapter and expect to have posted in the about two weeks.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: I had hoped to finish this and the get it posted within two weeks, but things kind of got away from me. This chapter and the following one started out to be just one chapter, but it kept growing and becoming more involved than I had originally intended. So, for the ease of keeping everything straight in my head, I broke it up into two chapters and I hope to have the next chapter by the end of this weekend.___

**Chapter 3**

**The Savoy Grill**

**Metropolis, DE**

"Tess, I would like to introduce you to Felix Vastag. He and his family own and have been running the restaurant and the Ace of Clubs for the last three years," Clark told her when they had walked into the Savoy Grill after getting her car parked in the building's underground garage and her luggage moved into Clark's portion of the penthouse.

As Clark was beginning his introduction, Tess found herself looking at a short, rotund man with snow-white hair that was thinning on top. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and had a kindly expression on his face. To Tess he looked like what everyone might hope their grandfather would look like. She also recognized the man's last name as being Hungarian in origin.

"Uncle Felix, this Tess Mercier," Clark continued the introductions. "She is my newest client, and she also Lex's cousin."

"It is a pleasure to meet Miss Mercier," Felix said in slightly accented English. "I am also sorry about Alexi. He was a good boy."

"Thank you, Mr. Vastag..."

"Please, call me Uncle Felix. Everyone does."

"Of course, Uncle Felix. And, thank you for your thoughts about Lex," Tess replied unable to keep the smile from her face.

"Uncle Felix, we need to use the private dining room," Clark told Felix. "We're expecting five others to be joining us in a few minutes."

"No problem, a megmentö," Felix said with a smile.

"Also, Alicia's boyfriend is going to be coming too. So, can you hold a table for them?"

"Again, no problem."

"Thank you, Uncle Felix."

"By the way, a megmentö, a moment ago there was a man who said he needed to see you. He said he would wait for you in the bar," Felix told Clark.

"In that case, Uncle Felix, would you please show Tess to the dining room while I see what this guy wants," Clark asked. When he saw Felix's nod of acknowledgment, he continued, "Thank you, Uncle Felix. Tess I shouldn't be a moment. By the way, is there is anything I can you get from the bar?"

"Can they do a Mojito Royalé," Tess asked. When Clark nodded, she continued, "Then that is what I'll have, but can you ask them to use a double shot of Bacardi?"

"Don't worry Tess, I'll be sure they 'splice the mainbrace' and use a good brand of champagne instead of the usual club soda," Clark said as he turned and headed towards the entrance of the Ace of Clubs.

Tess couldn't help the small chuckle she had at Clark's using the British nautical term for the issuing a double daily ration of the rum given to their seamen as she followed Felix towards the private dining room. As Felix opened the door to the dining room and ushered her in, Tess asked, "Uncle Felix, you called Clark 'a megmentö'. Isn't that Hungarian for 'my savior'?"

For a moment, Felix had a look of surprise on his face as Tess revealed the fact that she knew at least something about the Hungarian language before replying, "You are correct."

"Why do you call him that," Tess inquired as she switched over to Felix's native language.

"It is very simple. He is our savior, me and my family," Felix responded in the same language as he led the way to the private dining room. "Me and my family are Jewish and were being forced to work for a Luftwaffe general in France as his personal staff in 1943. It was either that or be deported to the east. When Clark's OSS team raided the general's villa in the south of France to kidnap him he found us there and he brought all of us back with him when he flew the general back to Gibraltar."

Tess quickly understood what Felix was not saying. Clark brought Felix and his family back with him because he knew that if they had been left behind they would have been sent to a concentration camp since the general would no longer be there to keep them from such a fate.

"So how did you end up here in Metropolis?" Tess asked.

"Again, I have a megmentö thank for that," Felix told her. "He got his father to arrange visas for my whole family to come directly to the United States. He also arranged with Lex to get me the money to help me buy the restaurant and club."

"How did Clark's father help get your visas," a now curious Tess asked.

"His father is a U.S. Senator from the state of Kansas," Felix replied with a smile.

Tess was pleased with what she had just heard. A man she barely knew and already had strong feelings for obviously had a very caring and compassionate side to him. That fact only helped to endear him to her even more.

Tess then thought about the young woman in the lobby who had directed her to Clark's office and recalled her name. "Uncle Felix, would Bianka, the receptionist in the lobby, happen to be one of your daughters?" Tess said as she gave voice to the question that suddenly popped into her head.

"Actually she is my niece," Felix stated with a warm smile. "Lex arranged with the building's management to give her job which helped her to be able to get an immigration visa to come here. Now if you will excuse me I need to get back to the kitchen."

With that Felix turned and left, closing the door to the dining room behind him leaving Tess to look about the room. In the center of the room was a sizable circular table that could easily have seated a dozen people and was covered in a quality linen table cloth. The room itself was paneled in a light oak and a several tables and lined the the walls. The thing that caught Tess' attention was the fact that there were no windows and the walls themselves seemed to have been very well insulated since she could hear absolutely no sound through them from either the restaurant itself or from the street outside of the building.

_**Meanwhile, In the Ace of Clubs...**_

After leaving Tess with Uncle Felix, Clark had stepped over to the restaurant's entrance into bar area of the Ace of Clubs. A quick sweep of the current patrons revealed to him that the man who was looking for him was standing at the bar nursing a drink. It had been awhile since he had seen his friend use this particular persona. In fact, it had been more than a year since his friend had done something like this. The HRA had given him the excuse he had been looking for to retire from the hero business and settled down. But, now it looked like things were starting to occur that might change all of that.

Clark walked up to the man and announced his presence by saying to the bartender, "Gregory, put that drink on my tab. Also, I need a Mojito Royalé with a double shot of Bacardi along with your best champagne and give me my usual."

"Sure thing Clark," Gregory said from behind the bar as he started to take care of Clark's order.

The man straightened up on hearing Clark's voice and turned around to reveal a man nearly as tall as Clark with dark brown hair and a pair of penetrating aqua blue eyes. Some superb make-up, which included a false mustache, obscured his regularly handsome features that were very well known to the world. The man's now slightly menacing features took on a slight smirk as he stayed in role and simply said, "Kent."

"Malone," Clark returned the greeting. "It has been awhile since I've seen you around here."

"Yeah, it has been," 'Malone' replied.

"Well, it must have been something important for you to go to all this trouble," Clark stated as he lowered his voice slightly so no one could over here them as they talked.

"That is something of an understatement," the man supplied. "Intergang is beginning to flex its muscles again and they need to be stopped."

"For some reason that doesn't surprise me too much," Clark said. "I think Lana is manipulating Edge which would explain Intergang's sudden surge in activity."

"It would also explain the reason that a $250,000 contract has been put out on your newest client," 'Malone' told Clark.

"Whoa... Lana really must want all of the Luthors, of any variety, out of the way," exclaimed a rather surprised Clark.

"So it would seem," 'Malone' agreed. "The strange part of it was the stipulation that it had to be low profile and made to look like an accident."

"That seems to be Lana's and Intergang's usual M.O. They want to keep any possible suspicion from leading back to her or them," Clark suggested as he quickly thought about the matter. "The problem is with a quarter of a million dollars up for grabs there is going to be a lot of punks out there who will do it for less just to get the money without any regards to any conditions put on the contract."

"True enough," 'Malone' had to agree. "We both know that Edge is very picky and meticulous about how his contracts are carried out. He would more than likely kill anyone who didn't carry out the contract to the letter. But you never know. That large amount for a single hit shows that they are desperate to make sure that your client ends up dead, so Edge might not really care. And your point of some punk on the street getting lucky would not necessarily lead back to Intergang. So, I think you had better keep your client close to keep her safe."

"That was my plan to start with," Clark said with a smile. "Thanks for the warning, Malone."

"Not a problem, Kent," he replied. "I still owe you a few."

"You don't owe me anything, but thanks all the same," Clark told him. "By the way, how are the wife and kids?"

"They're doing just fine. In fact, we are going to be having a party at the house on New Year's Eve. If you and your lady friend are free, you might stop by," 'Malone' responded.

"If this thing with Lex is cleared up by then, we just might," Clark said. "I'll be seeing you around, Malone."

"You take care, Kent," the man said before turning and walking out of the club.

As Clark waited for Gregory to finish his drink order he mulled over what 'Malone' had told him. This latest act of Lana's just made it more imperative that something be done to neutralize her ability to make trouble, and that was what this upcoming meeting was supposed to be all about. It also meant that steps beyond the ordinary were probably going to be required. That was one reason he was glad that Chloe was going to be at the meeting, he also got a little bit smile on his face knowing that she was going to enjoy seeing Lana get her just desserts.

A few moments later, Clark was making his way back to the dining room with the drinks Gregory had made for him when he spotted the first two people to arrive walk into the restaurant and were making their way towards the same destination as Clark. The first of the two was a blonde woman of medium height and had a smile that for most of his life had never failed to light-up whatever room she was in. The other was a younger man in his mid-twenties with a camera case slung over one shoulder who had short brown hair and smiling blue eyes that made his face look younger than it really was.

"Chloe, Jimmy," Clark greeted them. "I'm glad you could make it. You're the first to arrive."

"It's great to see again, C.K.," Jimmy said, "but what is all the mystery about? My brother's call didn't really provide us with a lot of details."

"I have to agree with Jimmy; Hank's phone call wasn't exactly what I would call illuminating," Chloe added.

"Everything will be explained it a little bit," Clark replied. "But first, Jimmy you have you're choice of sitting in on this meeting, or having lunch with your girlfriend, who just happens to know that you are coming. So, what will it be?"

"Like I really have to think long and hard on that one; I'll take my girlfriend every time," Jimmy replied.

"I thought as much," Clark told him. "That is why I had Felix hold a table for the two you."

"Thanks, C.K."

"No problem, Jimmy. Why don't you go let Alicia know that you are here, and would you ask her to bring me those files in my desk?"

"You got it," the younger man enthusiastically replied.

"Thanks Jimmy, and I promise that you won't miss out on any of the upcoming fun. So it is a good thing that you brought your cameras with you."

"You know I never go anywhere without them," Jimmy said as he began to turn to make his way to Clark's office. "Besides, Perry would have my head if I didn't and missed out something that someone else got instead of the Planet. I'll see you guys later."

As Jimmy left, Chloe fell in beside Clark as they continued towards the dining room, and asked him in her mind, _"I don't suppose you might want to give me some kind of hint as to just what is going on?"_

Clark had his usual tone of voice in his mind that went along with his trademark goofy, lopsided grin as he thought back at her, _"You mean Fate hasn't clued you into any of this before now?"_

"_Clark, you know that like you I only let that part of me out when it is necessary, and so far there has been nothing to really indicate that there is anything out of the ordinary to justify doing that,"_ Chloe retorted.

"_Okay, I'll grant you that," _Clark said as they reached the door of the dining room and he began to turn the door knob. _"Let's just say that it involves an old acquaintance of ours."_

As Clark pushed open the door he announced to its only occupant, "Tess, here is your drink, and though it has been nearly twenty years, I believe you two already know each other. However, just to be on the safe side, Tess this is Chloe Sullivan, now Olsen, who is my dearest and oldest friend. Chloe this is Tess Mercier, my newest client and Lex's cousin."

As Tess stood to greet Chloe, she quickly looked her over sizing her up. Chloe was a few inches shorter and a few years older than Tess, but there was no denying she had a presence about her that commanded attention. For her part, Chloe was doing the same thing using her own unique set of enhanced senses, courtesy of the Amulet of Anubis, as she read Tess in her own distinctive way. It only took her a moment and what she saw intrigued her. She wondered if Clark already knew the truth about Tess being his destiny among other interesting things she now knew about her.

"Tess, it is a pleasure to meet you again," Chloe said as she took Tess' offered hand. "At least this time there is no life threatening events going on."

"I wouldn't start making assumptions on that just yet," Tess replied. "But it is nice to meet you again. It gives me the opportunity to congratulate you on your writing, which I have enjoyed; especially your interview with Marshall Kendric," Tess finished as she gave a knowing, teasing look at Clark.

"Well, thank you," Chloe responded as she thought to herself, _'Obviously she already knows that little secret about Clark.'_

"But what do you mean by saying I shouldn't start making assumptions about life threatening situations," Chloe asked, and was intrigued by the fact that Tess immediately looked at Clark to give her an explanation.

"Lana is starting to make trouble," Clark provided.

"Lana?!" a surprised Chloe asked.

"Yeah, Lana," Clark confirmed.

"Interesting that you used nearly the same tone of voice as Clark did when he heard the same bit of news," Tess observed with a slight smile on her lips.

One of Chloe's eyebrows rose in interest at Tess statement before she said, "When are we going to finally do something to put that little strumpet in her place."

"Today," Clark replied, and then added, up on seeing the expression of surprise on his friend's face, "In fact it will be right after lunch that she will get the chance to unburden her soul."

Clark's use of those words surprised Chloe a bit since it meant that he was finally going to allow her to do what she had been wanting to do for the last six months. It had only been out of respect for him as her friend and leader of their group, as well as Lex's wishes keep everything low-key, that had kept her from hexing Lana the way she had wanted to.

"_You're serious about this?"_ Chloe quickly thought between the two of them.

"_Deadly serious; just like Lana. 'Malone' just let me know that Intergang has put out a __quarter of a million dollars contract on Tess. S__o you need to be ready,"_ Clark replied in as serious a tone as Chloe had ever heard from her best friend.

"_**'Malone'?!" **_a surprised Chloe said. _"If 'he' came out of retirement for this, it is serious."_

"_Yeah, it is!"_

"Now, if everyone would just get here, we could this show on the road," Clark mumbled a bit impatiently.

_Author's Postscript: Okay, before anyone starts getting uptight about Clark having mental powers I just want to remind folks that this isn't first time this has happened. The most remembered time, regardless of how many didn't care for it, is from "Superman II" when Clark erased Lois' memories of knowing the truth about him. Also, in the very early versions of Superman in the comics he did have some mental abilities as well. Now, I have never had any plans of bringing in Martian Manhunter, another highly evolved alien with mental abilities, into the story. Further, I did state in the prologue that the __Kryptonians had "evolved into a race of supermen whose mental and physical powers were developed to the absolute peak of perfection". And I want to state that I never saw __Clark as being anywhere close to being on the same level as Xavier. He can deal with normal human and alien minds, but he is not about to be able to engage in mental combat across the Astral plane, or anything like that. _

_I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and shown interest in this story._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

"_Now, if everyone would just get here we could this show on the road," Clark mumbled a bit impatiently. _

As if on cue, the door of the dining room was opened by Alicia, who proceeded to walk into the room carrying several folders in her hands with four other people that were following right behind her; three men and one woman. The first person through the door was a man in his early thirties who stood about six feet in height with brown hair and youthful-looking blue eyes. Right behind him was an older gentleman who looked to be in his late-forties to early-fifties with dark hair, which had been lightly sprinkled with a little bit of gray, and a pair of glasses framed his brown eyes. There was a look in his eyes and the way that he moved made Tess instantly get the feeling that this individual was something of a politician. She had seen enough of them in her life. Next in line was the woman, in her mid-thirties, who stood an inch or so taller than Tess, and like Tess, wore her light brown hair loose and down to her shoulders. She had experienced and knowing green eyes that missed little Tess figured when she looked into them. The last person through the door was a blond haired man in his mid-twenties with brown eyes who was the same height as the woman and built like a tank.

"Thank you, Alicia," Clark said as he took the files from her. "You and Jimmy have a nice lunch, I figure all of this should take about an hour."

"Thanks, boss," Alicia said as she sashayed out of the room, closing the door behind her as she left.

"Well, introductions seemed to be in order," Clark announced as he led Tess over to the older gentleman. "Everyone, this is Tess Mercier, Lex Luthor's cousin and my newest client. Tess, this is Danton Palmerston, Metropolis' District Attorney; Henry Olsen, Chloe's husband and one of our Assistant District Attorneys; Captain Maggie Sawyer, head of the D.A.'s Major Crime Unit, and Sergeant Dan Turpin of the M.C.U."

As the individual greetings played themselves out and everyone took a seat at the table, Uncle Felix came in and personally took their food and drink orders. Once he had left, Palmerston spoke up, "Kent, not that I don't enjoy you treating all of us to lunch, but I hope that it has some better purpose than just a social gathering."

"How about the chance to loosen Intergang's grip on Metropolis," Clark retorted with a knowing smile.

"Just how are you going to be able to do that," Turpin asks with a certain tone in his voice. Dan Turpin didn't care much for private detectives, and Kent was the only one that he had a modicum of grudging respect for. The fact that Kent had saved his life once had a lot to do with it.

"The fact that I have leverage on a very close associate of Vincent Edge," Clark replied. "His wife, as a matter of a fact."

"His wife," both Turpin and Sawyer said at the same time, shocked at the news.

"But Edge isn't married," the district attorney said a moment later.

"Not in this state," Clark provided, "but did get married nearly eight years ago in Nevada to a nineteen year old young woman known as Helana Krocheski."

"Who the hell is Helana Krocheski?" Turpin asked for everyone who didn't already know the answer to that question. "And just what sort of leverage do you have on her?"

"Well, we can start with bigamy and then bring at least one case of first degree murder to the table to put a cherry on top of it all," Clark supplied. "And the answer to your first question Dan is rather easy, you see Helana Krocheski is better known to the world as Lana Lang."

That bit of news caught two people at the table by surprise and made one very uncomfortable, even though he hid it rather well.

Maggie was the first to recover from Clark's little announcement as she asked, "So, the whole story of her being from a little Kansas farm town that was literally blown away during the Dust Bowl who went to live with her uncle, Phineas Potter, in Los Angeles and was discovered while working in his drug store, is a complete fabrication?"

"I'm afraid so," Clark admitted. "But like any good lie it was built on certain verifiable facts. To start with there was a small town in Kansas named Majel Springs that did have quite a number of families named Lang and Potter living in it for more than sixty years. The town was on a spur of the Santa Fe railroad and noted for the natural springs that gave it its name. But the springs dried up and the town quickly began to wither away. By the time of Dust Bowl the town was already practically deserted and was completely abandoned shortly after that. There were a real Helana Lang and Phineas Potter that had been born in that town, but Helana died at the age of two and Phineas Potter died in the trenches during the First World War.

"Now, Helana Krocheski was born in the coal mining town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania in 1919. Her parents originally immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1913. Her uncle owned a number of taverns in the town and her father was his partner by the time of her birth. Prohibition had little effect on their business, just like every little town in those days as long as they kept the right people paid off they stayed in business. That was in this environment she was born into and raised in; it also makes it easy to understand the strong sense of self-preservation she has. She started her singing career working in those taverns and it was that talent and her good looks that made her the runner up to being Pennsylvania's representative in 1937 Miss America contest. It was during that competition that a talent scout noticed her and encouraged her to try her luck in Hollywood. A few months later in late 1937, at the age eighteen, that is what she did. She traveled to California accompanied by her boyfriend at the time, one Dr. Phineas Potter. It was his "connections" with the medical community that got Helana some minor, and very discrete, cosmetic surgery to improve her looks. He was also the one that provided Helana with a special hair coloring that turned her into the blonde she is today, and within a year she was the fastest rising star in Hollywood."

It was at that point that there a discreet, soft knock at the door and a moment later it was opened by Uncle Felix who was bringing in everyone's drinks. After a quiet word of thanks from Clark, Felix left as the room's occupants turned their attention back to their host.

"Chloe, neither you or Henry seemed at all surprised by what Clark has told us so far," Tess said once the door was shut and giving voice to what she had observed.

"That's because Clark made sure that me and Hank were fully aware of what he was doing and what he had uncovered along the way," Chloe replied.

"Tess, Chloe and Hank are two of the people I trust the most," Clark further explained as he looked at her with a completely frank and open expression on his face. "I let them know everything I knew because I wanted to be sure that if anything should happen to me that there would be someone else who knew the truth of what Lana was up to and could do something to let Lex know."

Tess looked into his eyes and saw the honesty of his words there. That fact told her that she would be able to trust them as well.

"Kent, you said that Phineas Potter died in France," Turpin said trying to get the conversation back on to the subject of this meeting before asking, "then who was this new Potter character?"

"Marek Garncarzki," Clark replied. "Garncarzki was a brilliant young chemist who worked in New York manufacturing narcotics. In 1917, when the police were closing in on him, he joined the army under an assumed name to escape being arrested and sent to prison. In the army, Marek's medical knowledge made it easy for him to became a medic. He was serving in the trenches with the real Phineas Potter, who was his friend and the other half of his stretcher team, when a massive artillery barrage wiped out their unit. Garncarzki was the only survivor and fearing that the authorities might catch up with him again, he took the opportunity to switch dog tags with Potter and assumed his identity.

"After the war, Garncarzki returned to the States and went back to school to become a pharmacist as part of his plan to start up his narcotics operation again. After getting his license under the name of Phineas Potter he set up shop in a nice quiet, out-of-the-way place called Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, using his drug store as a front. That is where he and Helana met and when she was sixteen they started a physical relationship. Since then, Dr. Potter has proven to be very helpful in promoting Lana's career."

"Helpful in what ways," Tess asked getting caught up in the story she was hearing and wondering when she might see a variation of this whole affair in one of Marshall Kendric's future books.

"Connections and chemicals," Clark answered. Then seeing the expected questions on their faces, he continued. "Alright, as far as connections go, one of Marek's buddies from before the war was Moxy Mannheim, and it was Moxy who Marek was making the narcotics for in New York. At the time Marek and Helana got to Hollywood, Moxy's representative on the West Coast was Vincent Edge. Marek introduced the two of them to each other at a party that Vincent was having, and he fell hopelessly in love with her. Less than a week later they were married in quick ceremony in Pirawalla, Nevada where Vincent owned a couple of saloons and a casino. Helana had Vincent keep their marriage secret out fear that it might ruin her career. While it was through Vincent's connections with the studios that helped to open a few doors for her, it was Marek and Helana working together to create certain chemical agents that really helped guarantee that her career would get the best chance possible to really take-off.

"Now, I have to give her credit where it is due, Helana's talent as an actress and singer did make her a star. And it is that very talent that allows her to come off acting and looking like a gorgeous blonde show piece that could make an archbishop want to kick a hole in a stained-glass window for taking a vow of celibacy. But make no mistake, she is one smart, ruthless dame who can be as deadly as one Lucrezia Borgia's poison vials. Along with an unusual amount of chutzpah, Helana also has a brain and an uncanny expertise with chemicals that rivals Marek's own. With their combined knowledge, she and Marek came up with a chemical that they put into a perfume that he specially blends for her that helps boost her pheromones to such levels that it allows her to control just about any man she comes across. She first used it on Vincent Edge, and then on every producer and director that came in contact with her. So its easy see how she got so many breaks so quickly without having once to the horizontal rumba on any casting couch."

"Why would Marek help her marry Edge, and then continue to help her after that," Turpin wondered. "Or did she use her 'love potion' on him, as well?"

"When he was developing the basic formula, Marek also came up with an antidote to keep him and Helana safe from ever feeling the effects of their own creation. As to why he continued to help, the answers is as easy as power and money. Through Helana's influence on Edge, Marek has the ability to use Intergang to his own ends. And I have to give Marek credit; he is no megalomaniac. He has always been smart in only using that influence in subtle and limited ways to draw as little attention to himself. He doesn't want to run Intergang, he just wants to insure that he continues to profit very quietly from it.

"After she had Edge completely under her spell, Lana turned her attention to those in Hollywood who could help her career the most," Clark continued. "Within the next four years she came to be the highest paid and most sought after actress in Hollywood. Her 'love potion', as you put it Dan, helped open the door and her own talent did the rest. Of course, she would brook no competition. So, when any other actress was seen as a threat, Helana would have Edge put pressure on them either through intimidation, or with some cooked up scandal that would ruin them. By the time the war started she and Edge controlled Hollywood and all of southern California for Intergang.

"During all of this Marek kept busy setting up narcotic labs disguised as cosmetic factories all over the southwestern United States and Mexico. He also became establishing a regional chain of drug stores all across the Western United States as distribution system for his products. Currently, Marek controls nearly all of the major drug production and distribution west of the Mississippi for Intergang."

"I think I am starting to see a pattern here," Maggie said. "Lana married Edge because of his being part of Intergang. Then she married Todd Burtram and then later his father Nicholas, before turning her sights on Lex for similar reasons I would guess."

"And you would be right, Maggie," Clark agreed. "Shortly after the war began, we all know that Lana Lang, in a fit of very highly publicized "patriotism and love", married Todd Burtrum, the youngest son of Nicholas Burtrum the head of the Burtrum Steel Company. Todd was a newly graduated naval aviator on his way to the Pacific when he met Helana one night at the Hollywood Cantina, and 48 hours later Helana had him walking her down the aisle. Helana had a couple of reasons for marrying Todd, the first of which was the fact she was getting tired of the Hollywood scene and wanted to move on to a bigger challenge; high society. Todd was going to be her means of being invited through the front door. The other reason she did it was to enable herself to get inside information on government contracts and industrial capabilities that she knew Edge would find a profitable in many ways.

"Helana's plan was just starting show the first dividends when the unforeseeable happened, Todd was killed at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Fearing losing everything she had started, Helana turned her attention to old man Burtrum himself. Yet, she had one obstacle in her way, Todd's mother. But that was a problem easily solved by a staged auto accident less than a month after Todd's death. In the act of comforting each other, Helana got Nicholas to fall in love with her and he married her exactly one day after the appropriate period of mourning had passed. Then, very conveniently, Nicholas Burtram dropped dead less than a month later from a massive coronary seizure while still honeymooning on his yacht with his new bride down in Mexico."

"The bigamy charge I knew about," Henry Olsen added to the conversation. "Lex wanted to keep everything quiet for as long as possible, but this charge of murder is news to me. Just who is it she is supposed to have murder herself?"

"Lionel Luthor," Clark responded. Upon seeing the disbelief on everyone's faces, Clark continued, "Lionel Luthor's autopsy gave the cause of death as being heart failure, but what was never brought up in the proceedings was the fact that he was already dying of liver cancer. A physical less than two weeks before his death showed no indications of any heart problems, yet the medical examiner's report described the condition of Lionel's heart as being so damaged and deteriorated that it should have belonged to a man at least thirty years older than he was. It was this unmistakable fact that any first year intern could have diagnosed that aroused Lex's suspicions about Lana and he asked me to quietly start looking into the matter.

"It took me the better part of a month to track down Lana's well disguised past. It was while checking on Nicholas Burtrum's death that I made the connection to it being murder. Like Lionel, Burtrum had no previous history of heart trouble, but his autopsy report showed exactly the same kind of damage and deteriorated condition of his heart that was listed as the cause of death. That fact and knowing of Marek expertise in chemicals started me looking into possible ways of chemically inducing a heartache while making it look natural, and it didn't take long to find several."

"Kent, pardon me for interrupting," Danton said, "but this all sounds very detailed and you seem very certain that Lana murdered Lionel, and possibly Nicholas Burtram. Why is that?"

"Because I intercepted a shipment of the cosmetics that Marek personally makes for Helana, and the courier proved to be very cooperative, as well as talkative, after a little subtle persuasion," Clark told the district attorney and caused the corners of Chloe's mouth twitch in brief smile. She knew exactly the manner of persuasive powers Clark had at his disposal.

"_So did you use your old ploy of getting her to look into your soulful, puppy-doggy eyes before hypnotizing her into spilling her guts,"_ Chloe thought with a playful tone to Clark.

"_I have really got to find someone new to start working with who isn't completely aware of all my tricks. How else am I going to keep my air of mystery?"_

"_Air of mystery my foot," _Chloe snorted back at him_. "Besides, I think you already have found that someone."_

"Well, just who was this courier, and what is their connection to Lana Lang," Palmerston asked bringing the two friends' concentration back to the here and now.

"Martha Darrin, Lana's personal assistant and Marek Garncarzki's main squeeze for the last seven years," Clark informed him quickly recovering. "Last week I was in Los Angeles after following up on Burtrum's death in Mexico and keeping an eye on Marek. Marek and her were having lunch when I saw him give her an odd-sized package. I could tell from the way Miss Darrin was dressed she was getting ready to go somewhere. So, after they finished their lunch, I followed them to Union Station where he put her on the train for Metropolis. I made sure I was on that train and that was where I persuaded her over dinner to share the story of what was in the package and everything behind it. She really spilled her guts and that is where I got most of my details from."

"But how can you be sure that whatever chemical that might have been responsible for Lionel's death was in the cosmetics," Danton persisted.

"The train arrived back here in Metropolis late Friday evening, and the next day after Lex had left on his flight to Starling City I took all of the cosmetics over to Dr. Emil Hamilton at Cadamus Labs to run tests on them. As a favor to me and Lex, he worked on them all weekend and sent his test results to me this morning. He also included the results of a screening he did on Lionel's blood that Lex had acquired from the M.E., and it showed conclusively that there was a presence of one of those chemicals in Lionel's blood that can induce heart failure by causing the muscles in the heart to quickly deteriorate causing them to violently spasm and literally tear themselves apart."

"If you suspected foul play where Lionel was concerned, then why didn't Lex say or do something about it," Tess asked.

"Because he didn't know anything about it at the time," Clark replied. "I had only confirmed Lana was married to Vincent Edge earlier that week and had no definitive proof of anything else, Tess. That was one of the reasons that Lex confronted Lana about it and got her to agree to go to Reno to get a 'quickie' divorce in exchange for not having her prosecuted on the bigamy charge. He had personal and business reasons for wanting to keep everything as quiet as possible. He figured that the six weeks it would take for Lana to establish her residency and file for the divorce would give me enough time to prove conclusively one way or the other if Lana had been involved in any way with Lionel's death.

"Neither Lex, or myself, saw any threat from Lana. She was being given an easy and sure way out that would allow her to remain free with her own fortune she got from the Burtram's. There was no logical reason for her not to abide by the agreement she made with Lex."

"I take it you see things differently now," Chloe asked already having some idea of what her friend was going to say. They had both been doing this sort of thing together for too many years for them not to have learn how the other one thought.

"Either she got wind of the other reason for my investigation into her past, and struck first being afraid of what Lex would do if it were true that she murdered Lionel," Clark replied. "Or she made a serious miscalculation thinking that by killing Lex first and then trying to have any other Luthor heirs removed from contention..."

"What to mean by that," Tess said being puzzled by it as were most of the others.

"I don't to alarm you Tess, but I have reliable information that Intergang, meaning Edge and Lana, has put out a quarter of a million dollar contract to have you killed," Clark provided.

Turpin gave a brief whistle to show his surprise and how impressed he was at that news, before saying, "She really must want you out of the way something bad if she went that high. They only had an open contract for a hundred thousand on John Corben to keep him from squealing to the feds about Intergang. A contract that someone collected on. Just who is your source Kent?"

"Malone," Clark simply said.

" 'Matches' Malone," Turpin asked, again impressed at Kent's network of sources.

"For the uninitiated Miss Mercier," the D.A. said, "'Matches' Malone is shady character involved in the various crime families in the eastern part of this country. But, from time to time, he has past information along to police and others that he trusts that has always proven reliable. If he is Mr. Kent's source, then I would have to say that it is true. They want you dead for some reason. It might be best if you got out town, if not the country, for a little while."

"I'll be getting out town tomorrow," Tess replied. "I have to be on the inaugural run of the Metro-Star Express. I have business, both professional and personal, that I need to take care of in Starling City."

"Besides, I believe that Lana is going to be too busy with her arrest on bigamy charges to do much of anything else to threaten you Tess," Clark supplied before looking at Henry Olsen. "Hank, you are going to have to be sure that Lana is kept in jail under protective custody. Don't let Judge Wiesenthal be talked into allowing any sort of bail. Make sure that he his aware of just how much a flight risk she would if she did make bail."

"I'll do what I can Clark, but you know I can't make any promises," Hank Olsen told him.

"I know, Hank. Just to your best and I'm sure that it will be enough."

"Uh, Kent, just one question," Maggie said.

"What's that, Maggie?"

"You said that Lana has this 'love potion' in the perfume she uses, right?"

"Yeah, that was what I said."

"Well what is there to keep her from using it on the police, or anyone else, who comes in contact with her?"

"While he was examining the cosmetics I sent to him, someone who was helping him came up with neutral scent that will counteract its effects. We just have to be sure that Lana gets sprayed with it nullify whatever she has on at the time. After that it shouldn't be too much trouble to be sure that she doesn't get any more of the stuff from outside of the jail."

"That sounds reasonable," Danton said. "But exactly when are you planning on going out and arresting her."

"Right after we finish our lunch," Clark told everyone.

"But exactly how will having Lana in jail on bigamy charges help Metropolis loosen Intergang's hold on it," Tess asked.

"When I can prove that Lana murdered Lionel, and had a hand in what happened to Lex, I'm sure she will be more than cooperative in telling all the secrets she knows about the inner workings of Intergang to keep herself from going to the gas chamber," Clark explained. "When that happens she will probably be the one with a contract on her pretty little head. Now, if you will excuse me for a moment, I have to go take care of some personal business. I'll be back in just a few minutes."

As Clark got up and started for the door Danton Palmerston asked, "Kent why do you think Lex's accident wasn't one? From all the preliminary information that has come out it was a flaw in the wing design of the aircraft that caused it to sheer off when Lex and his pilot were making a sharp high speed turn to line up with the airport in Starling City."

"For several reasons, Danton," Clark began. "One, there are several different aircraft companies that want to destroy the reputation of that design which is going to revolutionize the whole industry. Those that don't have want to slow it down until they can come up with their design to rival it. So, I wouldn't be putting in stock in the "theories" that their "experts" are providing to the irresponsible members of the media who only want a headline."

"Chloe…" Clark started to say to his friend.

"It's okay, Clark," Chloe interrupted him with a smile. "You don't have to apologize. I know that you don't include me or Jimmy in that group."

"Thanks," Clark said with answering smile before returning to his explanation to the D.A. "The second reason is the fact that the plane Lex was flying was the third of three prototypes build for testing the design. I have flown all three of them myself and have done even riskier maneuvers than what Lex was doing when his plane crashed. And the plane was flying was the one with the least amount time in the air, so there is no way that what happened was due to metal fatigue as has been bandy about by some."

"But you just cannot simply dismiss the possibility that it was a flaw in the design or the manufacturing of the aircraft that caused it to crash," Palmerston persisted as Clark began to open the door of the dining room.

"As matter of fact I can, since that is by far the least likely of scenarios, Mr. Palmerston," Clark said with a sudden icy calm in his voice that altered Chloe and Hank to fact that the D.A. was getting into a very sensitive area. It was always like that with Clark when it involved family. "For the record, I would categorically listed that as an impossibility since I happen to know designer personally. In fact I have known the designer all of their life and most of mine. I know just how passionately and meticulously they pursue their work. You see Danton, the designer just happens to be my sister."

With that said, Clark opened the door and left before the D.A. could form any sort of response.

"But I thought the designer of the plane was Oliver Queen's wife, Linda Blake," Palmerston blurted out as the door opened and their lunch was brought into them.

"She is," Chloe spoke up being the only one besides Hank who knew all of the details behind the story of Clark Kent's little sister.

"Wasn't Linda Blake also known during the war as Lady Blackhawk," Tess asked having recognized the name of the only female member of the legendary Blackhawk Squadron.

"You would be correct on that point," Chloe said with a little smile.

"But, then how she be related to Kent," Danton asked.

"Let's just say," Chloe stated with a small knowing smile, "that Clark isn't the only member of the Kent clan who hid their true identity from the world by using a different name than the one they grew up with."

"_Oh boy, is that ever true,"_ Hank Olsen thought to himself.

_Author's Note: My apologies for not having this posted last weekend liked I hoped I would be able to do. But like I said this chapter just kept getting bigger than I had first thought it would. As Lionel once said, "the devil is in the details." _

_I hope you enjoyed it and I wanted thank everyone who has shown interest in my modest offerings and has posted reviews on them._

_I'm currently looked at 3-4 weeks before the next chapter is posted._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

**November 24, 1947, 11:47 P.M. (C.S.T.)**

**Quad Cities (Moline, Illinois)**

Without a doubt this was turning out to be one of the most miserable nights that J. J. Belanger could remember as he held the collar of his overcoat closed with one hand while the other was endeavoring to keep his hat in place against the howling wind that was pulling mercilessly at him and his partner. The wind that was blowing out of Canada was so bitterly cold that it was turning what had been a simple mist an hour ago into a driving sleet storm as he and his partner Winslow Schott, slowly made their way back to their car.

During the war they had been one of the best two-man assassin/demolition teams working behind enemy lines for the Allies. After the war they had found a very lucrative position working as private contractors for Hugo Mannheim who ran Intergang's Chicago operations. He had recognized their talents and had kept them gainfully employed for the last two years with contracts all over the western hemisphere. And, it was only the rich payday this job was going to give them that had made them agree in the first place to take this job so soon after their last one, which explains why they were where they were.

They had just done that job on Lex Luthor's plane (which had been a thing of beautiful subtlety on Winslow's part) for the same individual in Metropolis that had put out the current contract they were working on. For some reason it seemed that the big boss in Metropolis, Vincent Edge himself, not only wanted Lex Luthor dead, but he had also wanted his cousin to join him in the hereafter. Of course that had been before he had found himself in some hot water and was now cooling his heels in some Metropolis PD lock-up somewhere. That had only added to urgency of their job. Now, Mannheim himself had doubled the value of the Edge's original contract to insure that everyone aboard the Express never reached their destination. Along with Tess Mercier there were three other people aboard the Metro-Star Express that would prove to be most embarrassing to Edge and Intergang if they were allowed to live to testify, even if it meant killing a bunch of innocent people along with their targets. But that meant nothing to either of them. They were 'mechanics' who were hired to fix problems, not debate the morality or philosophy of their profession.

Usually after they had completed one of their contracts they would always lay low to make sure that there was no blow back that came their way; especially one as high-profile as the Luthor contract had been. But they just had not been able to turn down two combined contracts that paid half a million dollars. When they fulfilled this one, they were planning on taking at least a six months' vacation since they were going to have more than enough money to last them that long, if not longer. Who knows, this might be a good time for both of them to retire; or at least go into semi-retirement.

But then the trouble had started when word reached them in Chicago that the scheduled departure of the Metro-Star Express' inaugural run had been advanced twelve hours. Originally the train was supposed to leave Metropolis at eight o'clock in the morning on the 25th, but for some reason they had changed the time to leave at eight o'clock on the evening of the 24th. That change meant that he and Winslow had been forced to leave late that evening to be in Quad Cities in time, instead of the early morning start they had been planning on. That entailed a hellish drive at breakneck speed at night over roads neither one of them was familiar with. So, by the time they had reached their destination both of them were a bit tired and somewhat anxious that the timing was going to be very tight; a lot tighter than they preferred.

After they had arrived with a little less than an hour before the Express was due into the Quad Cities station, they followed their usual procedure of leaving their vehicle parked a fair distance from the area of their target and proceeded on foot to the tunnel. The reason they were headed for the tunnel was due to the fact that Edge had originally wanted the whole thing to look like an accident, and Mannheim had made it mandatory. Therefore, Winslow's plan was to place a small charge of explosives on one of the tracks a mile or so inside the eight-mile long Rock Island Tunnel that Metro-Star had run under the Mississippi River. The timer of the bomb was to be triggered by the electrical charge that traveled ahead of the Express along its magnetic levitation track. Ten seconds after it was started the bomb would destroy the rail just in front of the Express that should be traveling at more than 200 M.P.H. by that time as it would still be accelerating towards its top cruising speed of 325 M.P.H. just minutes after leaving the Quad Cities Station. At that speed the derailment of the train was sure to kill everyone aboard and destroy any evidence that it had been anything but an accident. It was even possible that damage to the tunnel would be so extensive that it might cave-in on itself, burying everything.

That was the reason that they were out here in the middle of the night slogging through the last little bit of the way back to their car across some rather marshy and muddy ground in what was quickly becoming an ice storm. The snow from yesterday's storm had melted during the afternoon turning the ground into a quagmire, which had only made their trip to and from the tunnel exhausting and messy.

Not caring about the collection of mud and muck on their shoes and the lower parts of their pants J. J. and Winslow quickly got into their car. Only a moment later the engine roared to life, but the vehicle didn't move. They had been instructed to wait and be sure that they got confirmation that the train had really derailed and been wrecked inside the tunnel before leaving; they were only going to be paid after it had been verified that their targets were dead.

The minutes slowly drug by as they waited for the train and the car's heater to banish the cold they had been feeling in their bones since they had left the tunnel. Finally the blast of Express' twin air horns pierced the night as its blazing headlamp suddenly came flashing into sight. Moving faster than any train before it, the two men watched as the Metro-Star Express sped to what they were sure was its destruction.

The once the train had completely disappeared into the tunnel, Winslow Schott looked at the luminescent face and hands of his watch for a few moments before beginning to count down.

"10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…"

It was at that point that the two men heard a "thumph" like-noise from the rear seat that was instantly replaced by the sound of "tick-a… tick-a… tick-a". Switching on the interior lights and looking quickly behind them, both men saw, to their horror, Winslow's bomb sitting in the middle of the back seat as the hand of the mechanical timer attached to it swept past "3" and then "2". Frantically grabbing for the door handles, J. J. Belanger and Winslow Schott had barely started to pull on them when the bomb went off consuming the car and its occupants in a ball of fire and destruction.

Neither one of the two men would ever know that they were only one of several attempts on the lives Tess Mercier and her friends aboard the Metro-Star Express that ended badly for all of their would-be assailants.

**Meanwhile, aboard the Metro-Star Express…**

Clark was sitting in the lounge/observation section of the Luthor family private car that was part of the mix of maglev railcars that made up the Express when he heard the explosion with his heightened hearing. With him were Tess, Chloe, Jimmy and Alicia. Chloe and Jimmy were there to cover the story of the Express' first run for the Daily Planet from a personal point of view. Alicia had been a last minute addition, at Clark's suggestion, since she really didn't have any real business to keep her in Metropolis and it gave her and Jimmy a chance to spend more time together. While that had been true enough, Clark also wanted another member of his team along just in case something unknown and unforeseen came up. In spite of all of things his powers and abilities allowed him to do, the one thing Clark had learned over the years was the value of having others to back him up, especially in areas where he had little or no experience, such as magic.

At the time that Clark heard the detonation of Winslow's bomb, Jimmy and Alicia were regaling Tess with some of Clark's exploits at being a private detective, especially the less than spectacular, and thus humorous, ones. Quickly focusing his other senses in the direction of the explosion as the train sped along, it took only a moment for his eyes to confirm what his ears had already told him. Returning his attention to his surroundings, Clark gave a resigned sigh and shake of his head that Chloe didn't miss just before she heard his thoughts.

"_It seems that protection ward you placed on Tess is working,"_ he told her as he replayed what he had seen and heard for her. _"Thank you."_

"_No thanks are necessary Clark, but you're welcome,"_ Chloe returned. _"I am not going let anything happen to Tess if I can help it."_

As Clark gave a brief nod of acknowledgment to her, Chloe could feel from within her that Fate was more than satisfied that two former agents who had once fought for Order, and had since fallen to the side of Chaos, had been given the ironic justice they deserved by their own device of destruction.

As Chloe absently listened to Alicia and Jimmy talking with Tess, she also felt satisfied at what had happened nearly eight hours ago when she had finally gotten the chance to allow Lana to "unburden her soul".

_**Flashback… Luthor Mansion, earlier that afternoon…**_

The snowstorm that had been predicted for that evening had arrived early and with a vengeance. What had started out as a light dusting of snow falling on the small caravan of five vehicles as it made its way out of downtown Metropolis and headed towards the Hampstead borough of the city was a full blown snowstorm by the time they reached their destination nearly twenty minutes later. As the procession pulled past the two-story stone gatehouse of the 500-acre Luthor estate, it was being battered by high winds and blowing snow.

The vehicle leading the way was a 4-door 1946 Buick Roadmaster that was driven by Henry Olsen. The passenger sitting next to him was his boss, Danton Palmerston, who was wearing his best poker-face to hide his anxiety about the coming confrontation. He tried several times in the last hour or so to get a call through to Mr. Edge or Mrs. Luthor to warn them, but it seemed that no calls were going through. And, just before they had arrived at the Luthor estate he saw why none of his calls had gone through; several large tree branches had broken loose and destroyed two whole sections of phone lines. The phone company's repair crews were already on the scene doing their best to restore service even in the weather that was worsening by the moment.

The next two vehicles were an unmarked police vehicle being driven by Dan Turpin and a regular police cruiser carrying two officers assigned to the Major Crimes Unit; Maggie Sawyer was in the unmarked vehicle with Turpin. The fourth car was a 1939 silver-colored LaSalle convertible coupe was being driven by its owner, Jimmy Olsen, while Chloe was sitting in the passenger seat next to her brother-in-law. Bringing up the rear of the convoy was Clark Kent's 1939 crimson-red Packard 12 Special which carried him and Tess Mercier who was now wrapped in a large full-length hooded blue fox fur coat that she wore over the dark blue wool pants suit she had changed into just before they had left to go to the Luthor mansion. She had exchanged her earlier outfit for this new one because it provided a greater measure of protection against the cold of the storm she had realized was coming sooner than anyone else and was now battering Metropolis and the surrounding area.

The line of cars proceeded down the mile-long road that eventually brought them to the main portico, or formal entrance, that was supported by massive 50-feet tall limestone columns at the front of the Luthor mansion known as Earlmarsh Hall. The original Luthor Mansion had been built in the late 1850's by Lex's great-grandfather, Alexander Luthor, whom he was named after. It had been built from red brick in a Tudor style of architecture and stood for more than forty years before being torn down in late 1900 by Lex's grandfather, Lachlan Julius Luthor.

In its place the estate known as Earlmarsh Hall had been built as a wedding present for Lachlan's second wife, Jillian. When it was completed in early 1906 after five years of construction it was considered to be the epitome of the 'Gilded Age' mansions. The six-story mansion was built of Indiana limestone and patterned after the Georgian mansions of England. To keep the proportions correct, three stories were built underground. The mansion had 147 rooms with 45 bathrooms which were finished in Italian marble and was furnished with Oriental rugs, French furniture, medieval tapestries, paintings and sculptures by the masters, as well as chandeliers in nearly all of the rooms. On the second floor were the master bedrooms, two offices, a breakfast room and the many guest suites.

The mansion further boasted of having half-a-dozen elevators, a 64-foot-long ballroom, and an organ with three-story pipes. The subterranean floors housed a bakery, a carpenters shop, a gymnasium, a refrigerating plant, emergency generators, a movie theater and an extensive telephone system, along with an underground firing range. There was also a massive wine cellar shielded by three doors which had kept the Luthors well stocked in all manner of alcoholic beverages throughout the days of Prohibition.

It took a sizable staff to maintain such a palatial estate. In all more than two hundred people were employed in maintaining Earlmarsh Hall. A team of trained mechanics was employed to service the estate's fleet of chauffeur-driven cars, while some 50+ live-in servants that occupied the service wing of the mansion itself. More than a third of the staff was made up of the locally hired groundskeepers that kept the grounds and gardens of the 500-acre property immaculate.

Clark had it directly from Lex himself that the up keep of Earlmarsh Hall was more than $1,000,000 a year, which his lawyers had found some legal way to write off on the company's annual business and tax report. Lex thought of Earlmarsh as more of a museum than a home, but it had been both his grandfather's and his father's pride and joy. Lex had made that point once when he told Clark that Lionel had been proud of the fact that Henry Ford had once told a friend of his father's after visiting Earlmarsh that, "It was a great experience to see how the rich live."

Several cars were already parked in the driveway that ran under the portico which meant all of the cars approaching the front of the Luthor mansion were going to have to park in the open area directly in front and a little below the portico itself. Once they did, the occupants of the vehicles piled out and headed quickly towards what little protection the portico offered against the blowing snow and wind. When they arrived at the front door Clark gently took a hold of Tess' fur covered arm and directed her a little to the side where they would not be seen. As he did, Clark bent down to her ear to be sure she would be able clearly hear what he was about to tell her.

"Tess, I want you to wait out here with me until it's the right moment."

"The right moment for what," Tess asked in a slight amount of confusion.

"The right moment to let Lana see that you are still very much alive," Clark said with a small smile. "I'm hoping that seeing you is going to be enough of a shock to her that she'll accidentally says something she shouldn't."

"Do really thing that will work?" Tess asked a little unsure that Lana would be that likely slip up.

"I would almost be willing to bet on it," Clark said already knowing that Tess was going to be the trigger of Chloe's spell that was going take care of Lana Lang once and for all.

Hank rang the doorbell as the rest of the group waited.

Lana Lang, a.k.a. Helana Krocheski, was in her boudoir in the Master suite trying on the mourning outfit she was going to wear to Lex's memorial service she was going to arrange to be held on Friday. The outfit itself had been designed and made for her more than a month ago. It had just taken this long to finally arrange for Lex to be in a situation where his death would easily be believed to be nothing than another unfortunate accident that had once again befallen to the man she was currently married to. Now, she was finally going to be able to wear this cunning little number, and would soon have complete control of the entire Luthor empire at her disposal once there were no more relatives to stand in her way. She was already planning on putting a performance at Lex's memorial service that would be sure to get her another Oscar from the Academy if only they knew the truth.

Just how Clark Kent had discovered the truth about herself was something that still worried Lana. She had tried her special perfume on Clark years ago, but like Lex it had not worked. That had forced her to depend on her own personal charms and acting ability to get Lex to fall in love with her, but she had utterly failed with Clark. He had proven to be completely indifferent to her charms even though she had subtly tried her best. It still intrigued and frustrated her that Clark Kent had been the first and only man who had ever been entirely beyond her ability to bewitch in any way. It was such a shame that he and all of his friends were going to have to be permanently dealt with if Vincent and Intergang were going to really take control of Metropolis.

Vincent Edge was the only man she had ever had any emotion for that came close to being love. That was the reason eight years ago, shortly before the war, she had given him a son that only three people knew anything about; or least she believed that. Yet, knowing Kent's ability to ferret out information there was a chance that he might also be aware of the existence of her son Morgan.

The man of her thoughts was in the room enjoying the view of his wife modeling the outfit she would be wearing this coming Friday. Ever since Lana had married Lex, Vincent Edge had slowly and quietly been increasing his influence within Luthor Enterprises as a means to disguise Intergang's growing international operations. Things had started out small so as not to arouse any suspicion. For nearly two years things had gone smoothly with Intergang's influence steadily increasing all over the world since the end of the war. Then Lionel Luthor had begun to suspect something was going on within his empire that he was completely unaware of. It was for that reason that he had asked Lana to kill Lionel, to stop him before he found out the truth of what was really happening. Now, once Lex was officially dead and buried, soon to be joined by his cousin, they would have the means to truly give Intergang a worldwide front of respectability and international influence.

Yes, in Vincent Edge's mind, things were finally going to be the way they should be. By the end of the year, he and Lana would no longer have to hide their marriage along with their son. And finally, he was going to really be able to make Intergang the dominate force in the world of crime that it was meant to be. All in all, 1947 was ending as a good year for Intergang and 1948 looked to be even better.

It was at that point that there was a discrete knock on the door.

"Come in Norris," Lana directed.

The door of her boudoir opened to admit a man in his late-thirties dressed in a traditional suit of clothes that seemed to be worn by every butler in the world. Norris came to within what was accepted as the respected distance from his employer and announced, "Madam, there are some visitors insisting on seeing you. They say that it is most important."

"Exactly who are they, Norris," Lana inquired.

"Mr. Palmerston and Mr. Olsen from the District Attorney's Office, Miss Lane and her partner from the Daily Planet, and four members of the police."

"Tell them I'll be down shortly," Lana told her butler.

"Of course, madam," Norris said before turning and leaving the room.

"I wonder what they could want," Lana thought out loud.

"It can't be anything too serious or Danton would have called us to let us know what was going on," Vincent Edge said in response as he rose from where he had been sitting.

"I guess we'll just have to see what it is they want," Lana realized, but was still a bit concerned about the whole thing.

Seeing the worry on her face, Edge told Lana, "Don't worry about it. Whatever it is I'll take care of it."

"You don't think this could have anything to do with Kent do you," Lana suddenly asked with dread evident in her voice.

"Not a chance," Vincent said with confidence. "I had Travis send his best men to take care of Clark Kent and all the evidence he has about our marriage. Travis promised me that he was finally going to take care of Mr. Kent once and for all."

"Have you or Travis heard anything from them," Lana queried as she and Vincent headed towards the door.

"No, but I don't know what even the seemingly invincible Mr. Kent could do against half a dozen men. But I'll have Travis check on it just to be sure," he replied in confident tones to reassure his wife as they left the room and began walking down the long gallery hallway that led the stairway. "You know that Travis has never let us down before."

As they descended the stairs together, Vincent and Lana saw exactly what they were told to expect as far as their "guests" were concerned. Danton Palmerston and Henry Olsen were at the front of the small group of people. Behind them were Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin with two uniformed police officers. A little off to one side stood observing the scene about to be played in front of them was Lois Lane and her partner Jimmy Olsen. Standing directly in front of them blocking their way were Travis Slade and a couple of his boys.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Palmerston," Lana said graciously as she was halfway down the staircase. "What brings you out on such a beastly day?"

With no pleasantries or preamble, Henry Olsen announced, "Lana Luthor, a.k.a. Helana Krocheski, you are under arrest on the charge of bigamy."

"Bigamy?!" Lana stated in an incredulous voice even though her insides had just turned to ice with fear. "And just who is it I am supposed to be married to, and just who is it that is making this preposterous allegation? I feel I have a right to know just who my accuser is."

Without missing a beat Hank said, "You have been married to the man standing next to you for the last ten years, Vincent Edge. As far as your accuser goes," he continued before turning and looking at Turpin. "Dan, if you would please?"

At that Dan Turpin went over to the front door and opened it. Leaning out, he made a quick motion with his hand beckoning someone from outside to come in. That individual was the one person that Lana didn't want to see at that particular moment, Clark Kent wearing a tan-colored, lined overcoat and a dark brown fedora. Just as she felt the blood starting to drain from her face, someone else stepped into the foyer of the mansion whose features were concealed by the hood of the large blue fox fur coat that they were wearing. When that person reached up and threw back the hood and revealed the features of Tess Mercier the color returned to Lana's face rather quickly; in fact it returned almost immediately. At the mere sight of Tess Mercier standing there alive and well, caused the coloring of Lana's face to continue to increase in deepening shades of red as the raging anger and hatred for Lex's cousin that she harbored, and had until that very moment concealed so well, simply erupted from deep within Lana.

"_**Damn It!"**_ Lana screamed at the top of her lungs as she whirled and looked accusingly at Vincent Edge. "You promised me that you were going to put out a contract on her so large that she would be dead by lunchtime. What is the point of being married to the head of the "all-powerful" Intergang if he can't even arrange for a simple little murder to be performed?"

Then, as she continued down the stairs, Lana tore into Vincent's right-hand man, "And Travis, you were supposed to have your best men take care of Kent. Well, you obviously failed to find men who were good enough to do the job, you son-of-a bitch!"

"Oh, and don't think I've forgotten about you Danton," Lana proclaimed as reached the bottom of the stairs and walked forward to confront the District Attorney. "You've been on Intergang's payroll your entire career and you couldn't take the time to call and let us know what Kent and Olsen were up to.

"Christ, I'm surrounded by incompetents," Lana declared to everyone in the room, but especially to Vincent and Travis as she began to move in the direction of Clark and Tess. "It's a good thing you had me take care of killing Lionel myself, Vincent, or you would have probably have found someone who would have some way to have screwed that up as well. But, I do have to congratulate you Travis. I'm surprised that you were able to find someone proficient enough to come up with a plan to take care of Lex, let alone that succeeded as well as it did."

By this point Lana had reached her destination as she stood in front of Clark and Tess just glaring at them. The shimmering highlights of her blonde hair only made the nearly maniacal gleam in her ice-blue colored eyes appear more menacing as she stared first at one and then the other as she began to breathe in and out quickly.

"I can see now that this is just one more thing that I'll have to care of myself," Lana said in an eerily calm voice as her eyes finally stopped moving between the two people standing in front of her and came to rest on Tess. For the space of a couple of heartbeats Lana's gazed was locked onto that of Tess'. Then, as her beautiful face became contorted into a bestial countenance of rage and loathing, Lana lunged towards Tess with her fingers spread wide with their claw-like fingernails reaching for their prey as she screamed, _**"Die Bitch!"**_

Naturally Clark and Chloe, along with Hank and Jimmy, had been expecting the outburst from Lana. But the vehemence of Lana's hatred for Tess was a bit of a surprise to the four of them. Everyone else in the foyer had been shocked into silence and immobility by Lana's outburst as she had continued down the stairs moving first to the district attorney before coming to stand directly in front of Clark and Tess. Vincent Edge and Travis Slade knew instantly what Lana had confessed meant for Intergang and themselves. Danton Palmerston was free-falling into a state of anguish as he realized that his career was over and his reputation was completely ruined by what had just been revealed to everyone. Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, along with the two other police officers, were just as stunned by what they had just heard.

Tess was equally as astonished as the others by Lana's enraged confession. She knew that Lana didn't like her, but she never imagined the depths of the hatred that she felt towards her. Yet, there was no denying the murderous intent that Tess saw in Lana's eyes just before she lunged at her screaming for her death.

As Lana had stepped up to them, Tess had instinctively moved herself into a fighting stance. So, even as Clark was starting to move to protect her, like lightning Tess unleashed a powerful high snap kick that connected squarely with Lana's chin. Stunned almost to the point of unconsciousness, Lana was literally launched backwards a few feet into the air before she came crashing down on the marble floor of the foyer, which completed the job of knocking Lana out.

Clark quickly stepped over to where Lana was laying out cold on the marble floor. Bending down, he took both of her hands in his and turned the palms up so he good get a better look at her fingernails. "Just as I was afraid," Clark announced as held Lana's hands up so Tess could easily see what it was that he had found. "She had a couple of those poison caplets I told you about glued the underside of her nails. Jimmy, I want you to take pictures of these. They may be needed later as evidence after they are removed."

As Jimmy moved to comply with Clark's request, both Clark and Dan Turpin saw a motion out the corner of their eyes as the two men standing on either side of Travis Slade started to reach for the guns they were wearing under their coats. In an instant, Clark had drawn both of his Browning Hi-Power 9mm semi-automatic pistols and was standing with each of them aimed directly at both men who were still in the process of drawing their own weapons. Dan was only a heartbeat behind Clark in getting out his own pistol which he had aimed directly at Slade.

"Call them off, Cyclops," Dan instructed Slade, intentionally using the nickname he knew Travis detested in the hopes of goading him into doing something stupid.

Travis Slade was a professional and nobody's fool; he knew, at least for the moment, the odds were completely stacked against him and Vincent. He realized that there would be another time and another place to do what he really wanted to do as he calmly told his men, "Stand easy and don't do anything stupid, either of you."

And that was the way the rest of that situation played itself out, calm and easy. Vincent Edge, Travis Slade, and Danton Palmerston were all arrested and taken downtown for booking. Lana was taken to the hospital to be checked out and was being held overnight for observation to see if she might have suffered from a concussion. Even before they had made it to police headquarters for his booking, Palmerston was already offering to turn State's evidence with everything he knew about Intergang for immunity from prosecution. It now appeared that the former district attorney was going to be an even better witness against Intergang than Lana might be.

The sound of the laughter and conversation surrounding her brought Chloe back to the here and now. Tess was giggling hysterically at something Jimmy had told her, and by the frown on his face Chloe could tell that it had been about Clark. Jimmy always was the jokester in the group, but everyone appreciated that about him. At least they did when they weren't the target of one of his pranks or humorous stories.

After looking briefly at her watch, Chloe announce to everyone, "I think it's time we all turned in for the night. It's only going to be a few hours before we arrive in Starling City. I've got a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a long day for everyone."

Both Jimmy and Alicia picked up on that simple statement; usually when Chloe said something like that it you normally got it by the bucketful.

"Sounds like an idea to me," Jimmy said in agreement.

"Me, too," Alicia chimed in with a certain amount of enthusiasm.

"Oh, brother," Chloe sighed recognizing the tones in their voices. "I mean get some rest you two. I don't want you wasting the entire night rutting around in your cabin."

"Okay, I promise, we won't waste the 'whole' night," Jimmy said with playful smirk on his face as he led Alicia back to the cabin they had been given when they had come on board earlier that evening.

"I'm starting to think that I had better have Hank have a long talk with his brother about his relationship with Alicia," Chloe huffed.

"I believe the last time I made a suggestion like that it was about Oliver and my sister, at which time you told me not to stick my nose into their relationship," Clark said with a playful tone in his voice at the memory. "It's a good thing I listened to you for once. So, I'm suggesting the same thing to you. Let them make their own decisions, they are adults after all."

"That's what I love about you, Clark. You're always there to support me when I really need it," Chloe snarked back at him which caused Tess to grin in amusement as she watched the two friends needle each other.

"I think you are right, Chloe," Tess said as she stood up. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day, and I really do need to get some rest."

"In that case I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Tess," Chloe said as turned started to make her way to her cabin.

"Goodnight, Chloe," Tess and Clark said together.

Then, just before she left the lounge area, Chloe called back without even turning around, "Clark, don't stay up too long."

She felt she should say it even though she knew he was probably not going to follow her advice. Unlike the rest of them, Clark was the only one who really didn't need to get any sleep. Five seconds after the sun came up Clark would be more than ready to go.

Back in the lounge, Tess and Clark stood looking each other in silence for a few moments. It was Tess that finally said something once she was assured that they were truly alone.

"Clark, I want to thank you for everything that you have done for me today," Tess began. "If it had not been for you and your friends, there is a good chance that I would probably be dead by now."

Then before Clark could respond, Tess gave into a desire that had been building inside of her all day. Quickly stepping up to Clark, Tess gathered the tie he was wearing into her hand and gently pulled his head down towards hers. Tess' original intent had been to not only give Clark a gentle kiss of thanks, but to find out for herself if the strength of the emotions that had been building in her since the moment she had met him were just as strong for Clark himself.

She had her answer the moment their lips met. To Tess it felt like little flashes electricity were suddenly shooting throughout her body causing her toes to a curl and a warm glow to begin in more than one place inside of her all at the same time. For Clark, in an instant the blood circulating within him felt as though it had been changed to liquid-fire. It was a feeling that neither of them had ever felt before and it turned a light, tentative kiss into one driven by an urgency and hunger that would not be denied any longer.

When Clark opened his mouth a little and let his tongue probe gently at Tess' lips she instantly opened her mouth as well allowing the two of them to be joined a bit more intimately than the simple pressing of their lips against each other. With each passing moment as their tongues began to plunder each other's mouths, the intensity of the passions flowing through them continued to increase and was soon reaching a breaking point for both of them.

It was only when Tess' body was telling her that it needed oxygen that she forced herself to part from Clark's lips. As she leaned back and began taking deep breathes, Tess slowly opened her eyes only to find herself looking directly into Clark's eyes that were so full of the passion and desire that he had for her that she felt her knees get even weaker than they were already feeling.

"Clark, what is happening to us," Tess asked in husky voice as she tried desperately to regain control of her emotions before she threw this man she barely knew down on the ground and ravished him like there was no tomorrow.

Clark had some idea what the truth was behind what had just happened, but it couldn't tell her that without revealing everything about himself. It was evident to him that moment was going to be coming far quicker than even he had imagined, but that time was not now. So Clark decided to side-step the issue for the moment.

"Tess, I'm attracted to you like I have never been attracted to anyone else before in my life."

"The same goes for me," Tess replied.

"For now, it might be best if you went and got some sleep before this whole thing between us gets completely out of hand and takes us places we might not be ready go to just yet. Even though it's clear that there is a part in of both of us that wants very badly to," Clark said using every ounce of willpower to keep himself from giving into his baser desires.

Tess had never heard truer words spoken. "You're right, Clark," she said in agreement. "At some point we need to really talk about this, but for now goodnight."

And with that, Tess turned and quickly departed for her cabin, not trusting herself to even give Clark a goodnight kiss, leaving a somewhat befuddled Clark alone with his thoughts.

Author's note: I wanted to thank everyone who has posted reviews, marked this as a favorite, and who have chosen to follow this story.


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